


Erosion of good and bad

by Karshwiz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Dark Harry, Dark Harry Potter, Dark Lord Harry Potter, Gen, Indy Harry, real harry potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:27:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26671387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karshwiz/pseuds/Karshwiz
Summary: Five years after the battle of Hogwarts the war is still raging. The Order under the leadership of Harry is going toe to toe against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Diversion from Half blood prince onward.
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Harry Potter - Relationship, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Grimmauld Place was silent which was unusual in days that have followed since the Battle of Hogwarts. There was a sudden cracking sound which Harry had gotten used to.  
  
"Master Harry must take some food and rest, this is bad for him" grumbled Kreacher, Kreacher hadn't realised till now that sustenance for harry requires very little effort."This elf is all that remains from my old family, awful!" the woman in portrait whined, Harry gave a glance towards that portrait and gestured to Kreacher.  
He vanished as he had come."He is a good elf" Harry said to no one in general. The portrait grumbled something which didn't seem to bother Harry.  
"You seem to spending an awful lot of time alone these days, It is not good for a young wizard of your age" Lycoris suggested.  
Lycoris black was a great aunt of his late godfather. Harry had trudged her up while going through some old decaying manuscripts in the Black library. She was relentlessly begging to have some company so Harry bought her to his study, sometimes he wondered if it was a right idea.  
"Are you planning an attack hmmmmm, that would be nice but you haven't convened you henchmen in past few days so that can't be it. Maybe you are planning something big and drastic." Lycoris baited.  
  
"My friends are not my henchmen first of all, and I am not going to tell you since you gossip with Hermione and Ginny a lot" Harry finally broke,.  
Lycoris had once come to know about the girl he was seeing for a brief period and spread it to Hermione the second they got some time together.  
  
Harry had also seen some benefits in keeping Lycoris close since she was a part of an old family she knew some connections that Harry could dig up which the Black family had maintained and lost touch with. She was the one who suggested some parallel investing options besides Gringotts to keep his funds safe and growing which the Black family used. Gringotts had the monopoly over the Magical financial system but it didn't mean that there were no alternate avenues to park you funds albeit risky.  
"I think I am done for now" Harry yawned,  
  
"Finally! your ability to keep quiet for so long bores me" Lycoris snipped. Harry smiled and collected all his parchment and filed it. He had finally learned some benefits of organization after his school years and to the delight of Hermione.  
  
"Lycoris tell Russeldorf to meet me tomorrow morning at 9 , ask Pushkin to meet me at 8 in the evening tomorrow. Leave a message to Molly that I want to see Ron and Hermione tomorrow at 6 in the evening."  
"I am an Aristocrat and not an Owl! I am Lycoris Black" Harry knew it was one of those days,  
"Lycoris we both know how much you love snooping in other potraits now please finish this task and let me have some rest".  
  
Lycoris grumbled and moved out of her frame to deliver the messages. Harry sent Lycoris to deliver only very private messages, he had asked Pushkin to have some frames for Lycoris made from which she could move in and out of. Pushkin was now part of Harry's core team to manage his war against Voldemort. During one of the raids by Death Eaters on a predominantly muggleborn residential area Pushkin's family was killed. Pushkin was a visiting researcher in Ministry from Indo-Tibet region and now had nothing to return to since he had lost everything. He had aided Harry as a make-shift medic but Harry had come to rely on him. He was an intelligent wizard with a specialty in Potions. Hermione had kept a close watch on his research and approved his acumen.  
Harry had come to really like solitary moments such as these, the battle against Voldemort was intensifying everyday and he was trying his best to maintain his sanity.  
  
He had never liked being a leader but life had a way of pushing him into situations he would deny in all sanity. It had been four years since the battle of Hogwarts, death of countless friends, families, children and Snape.  
"Kreacher! get me a pint in the kitchen" Harry yelled as he picked out a fag out of the breast pocket of his shirt.  
  
And Snape, yes, Snape and Dumbledore. Harry had gone through a train of emotions after knowing the truth about him being the Horcrux and Dumbledore's plan of sacrificing him. For some reason he still couldn't hate the man and since he has been in the role of the leader of the Order he had come to understand some reasoning or at least the sentiment behind the old man's actions. "Thanks Kreacher, you can go to sleep now", Harry lit the fag and took a deep drag and pondered on his plans and future.  
  
The Ministry was thoroughly controlled by the snake, Harry still had a network of men in some key positions but there were still bottlenecks of information which made him take risks he was growing aversions for.  
Harry had come to realize the importance of finance in sustaining wars. He was fortunate with the Black fortune but he still couldn't compete against the combined fortunes of ancient Dark families. Contrary to popular beliefs Potter fortune was enough to sustain a family but not a war chest. Harry took a swig from his beer and a deep drag. His allies with deep pockets were not as forthcoming as the followers of Dark Lord but Harry didn't wanted to milk his allies with fear. He knew the value of disgruntled men with information. The condensed water trickled on his palm, as he smoked and let his mind rush through all these amalgamation of thoughts. He had stopped taking firewhiskey with a fag since it weakened his occulumancy defences. He took butterbeer or some muggle beer but it was getting hard to give up smoking and hiding it was even harder.  
  
He had prolonged the war more than he wanted to or can afford. He and Voldemort both knew that Harry didn't have enough capital to sustain this war for a second innings. Harry knew he had to end this fast and hard. He was a wanted man for 5 years now and his friends were no better. He had an inkling of a plan but the execution was not even in its first draft. He took any deep swig of his beer , another deep drag and flicked it.  
All things considered he still had no idea how to get the damn snake destroyed which was latched onto his soul. Only three people were privy to this information. Hermione , Ron and Pushkin knew about his affliction and Harry knew that the solution seemed far fetched. So he had to factor in his demise in the equation too.  
"Will you go to sleep boy!" Lycoris cried,  
  
"I think you've had you daily dose of angst and now you should sleep. Russeldorf will meet you tomorrow morning , the henchmen will arrive in the evening and Pushkin was in the lab so I left a message with Violet".  
"Thanks Lycoris, I'll head over to bedroom now".  
"Don't forget to get a nice present for Ginny and Neville's wedding , how much are you going to delay it!".  
"Bollocks and piss" , their wedding was in a week and he had zilch to show for,  
"How do you know I haven't bought it already?",  
"Yeah and Walburga is the sanest person I knew" Lycoris snipped.  
"I am going to sleep, Merlin's pants, Blacks will be the end of me if Snake-ass doesn't end me first" Harry grumbled.  
"I heard that!".  
Before going to his bedroom he checked the rota that Bill had sent. Bill was in charge of managing the night patrols this week. Tonight Tonks and Lupin were on the prowl with Rankin on support. This was a dependable trio. He came out of the study and climbed for the bedroom. "Good Night Harry" Phineas Nigellus quipped.  
  
Harry took off his shirt and plopped on the bed and was asleep.  
<-o->  
"MASTER HARRY!" Keracher shouted, Harry woke up with a start and immediately sensed something was wrong.  
"Master Bill requires urgent support in Devon at the order sector" Harry was listening as he put on his amour and ran down the stairs.  
"Lycoris! activate this night's support team. Kreacher , connect me to Bill", Kreacher bought the two way mirror near him to listen.  
"Harry! we are taking hits from little snakes. we can contain this situation but we are expecting more company."  
"Understood, the support team is responding , activate the portkey transponder." Harry could hear the spellfire in the background. this was one of the most competent teams on the ground. But he still wanted to make sure they had backup , he could take no casualty at this stage in the war.

Tonks and Lupin were going against four little snakes in the back to back formation which they had perfected. Rankin was returning as good as he was getting against a Death Eater, Bill was alone taking two Death eaters. "Isn't your little Master going to come to your aid Weasley ? or is he too coward to fight now a days ?" The snake behind the mask taunted as he spelled dirty purple curses towards Bill and the snake’s partner was furiously throwing shield breakers. "Those white masks of yours really can't hide your bad breath, believe me It is far more lethal than these curses" Rankin gave a laugh and Bill released the intense yellow blast shield which pushed the death eaters and stumped them which gave enough time to Bill to raise a counter attack. Both Death eaters were now on back foot and sweating to maintain shield against Bill’s Focused Crater spells.  
  
Just a few meters away there was a battle going on which was akin to a well practiced dance when you looked at Remus and Tonks in the middle. Lupin was raining spells on two death eaters he was facing who were cowering and waiting for a change to attack, Tonks was alternating between dismemberment spells and quick deflectors. Tonks was one of the best fighters in the Order whose skills would amplify her magical prowess.  
  
"I think you're cooking is getting better" Tonks quipped as she was attacking and defending with her back to her Husband,  
"Really! now is the time you want to critique my cooking skills ?!" Tonks laughed and a green afterglow released from her wand took out one of the little snake. Seeing his comrade dead the lone death eater launched a barrage of bone breakers and blood gurgling curses which put Tonks on defensive.  
Rankin was now bowing to the pressure of attack from the death eater and Tonks noticed it. She was ready to break the formation from Remus when suddenly the Death Eater against Rankin fell dead to sweeping red beam from a corner of the field where the fight was going on. The Death eaters must have realized the backup for the Order was there because they started to disapparate too as the Rankin's combatant dropped dead on the ground.  
The shields of the two death eaters against Bill blasted with a loud bang as Luna fired bright lighting arrows, her specialty, at the shield's of Death eaters. "Thanks Luna, we have this under control though"  
  
"Its no problem Bill, I knew the Nargles were behaving differently" Luna reasoned.  
Lupin was alternating between cursed stingers and deflectors against two of his opponents when both of them dropped dead in a spatter of blood and smoldering flesh. It was Lavenders favorite spell now. It could pierce through multiple bodies and required high precision.  
Rankin was holding his shield and knew the play by heart as he had practiced multiple times in drills, but before Ernie could initiate the capture the remaining Death eaters vanished.  
One thing that Harry was genuinely proud of himself was this. He had turned the Order into a well oiled machine. Dumbledore had created an information network primarily. Under Harry he had created a well oiled fighting machine. He had prompt response time of his first responder team and had Backups ready to go. Sometimes even when the first responder team didn't need the backup he'd send the backup just to see their response time and coordination. This was made possible in large part by Ron's ingenuity and developing a commutation system with high redundancy. His fighters when in the field were battle hardened killers when they were pointed in the right direction.

  


"Lavender how many times have I told you not to use that curse in close combat! We could both be dead!".  
"Give me some credit Professor, you taught me this and you know I am as good as perfect with my shots" Lavender quipped calmly.  
"How am I going to put Teddy to sleep If I am covered in blood and bones of a Death eater!" Lupin wallowed,  
"It's a good thing then I put him to sleep early" Tonks laughed.  
Bill was inspecting the battle ground "I don't think we have any prisoners unfortunately. Rankin! burn the snakes and everyone portkey to safehouse for debrief, let's not linger here." After assisting Rankin in decimation, both teams apparated to safe house.  
Back at the Grimmauld Place Lycoris informed Harry that both teams and Bill had reached the safe house safely. It was half past three in the morning, he could hear the birds chirping.  
"Kreacher, connect me to Bill" harry instructed. On the two way mirror Bill appeared in a calm demeanour.  
"I know it's been a long night Bill , just a summary of events would suffice" Harry said in all seriousness,  
"Good to see you too Harry! But anyway , Tonks's team was against 7 snakes in white mask, so there were definitely not the most elite snakes but still they had numbers. Tonks stinged me on the activity monitor about the number of Death Eaters so I went for backup. I informed you about the situation before entering the fray. We had the situation under control without the Lav's team but they held their own".  
Harry was absorbing all the information, "Any prisoners ?" ,  
"None" ,  
"Hmmmmmm, Its been an eventful night, initiate Lav's team for rest of the night and relieve Tonks' team. We can have a debrief tomorrow. Nice work Bill , we'll talk later."  
, "Later Harry!" the two way mirror went blank.  
"Why are you not more concerned Harry ?" Lycoris chimed but Harry ignored her with a smirk and went back to bed.

AN: I am no writer but I had this Idea of a fic. I tried to find something close to it but didn't find it . I took up the job of writing it. It is cathartic experience for me to get it out. I'd love to share this work with people. Hope you enjoy this reading as much as I enjoy writing this. Please review .


	2. Chapter 2

Harry was dueling Bellatrix in Hogsmeade. Behind him Ron and Hermione were taking on Lucius. It was a deadly light and sound show going on between Order and Voldemort's inner circle. He was not thinking, he was on auto pilot and throttling curses on Bellatrix. Bellatrix was not a shoddy fighter, she was Dark Lord's prodigy. Bellatrix was returning as good as she got, "itty bitty Potty, you have learned a few tricks!" Bellatrix giggled. Her scathing voice was all it took to push him into next gear. Suddenly he stopped firing curses and started running in circles around Bellatrix. This amused her to no end. She delighted in Harry's antics and cute diversions he was trying to create. She was firing and missing as he was running circles around her. During his circular sprint he didn't fire a single spell. But Lucius had noticed something and shouted "BELLA RUN!". Before Bellatrix had realized what had happened Harry smirked and fired a spell. No one except Lucius had noticed that Harry had his wand pointed down during the whole time. Suddenly neon white spirals shot from the ground to infinity above. Harry knew he would have his pound of meat today. It was a simplex* shield bent onto itself. It was tough enough to create a simplex shield but to bend it around itself to act as a container was a magic in itself. He started a barrage of curses on Bellatrix to her horror. Nothing was out of limits now. Harry was like that when he went against Bellatrix. He was throwing curses to break bones, boil blood , rain condensed fire. The containment of Bellatrix had tilted the battle in favour of Order in the major way. Other order members were throwing wayward spells on her if they got a chance. One of Harry's curses took off Bellatrix's left hand. He was about to finish the job to the horror of little snakes but he knew it won't be today. He knew the twinge in his head better than his own thoughts and grazed his finger on his galleon. It was a signal to all the members with the order locket to get into a double sided Vic* attack formation with Harry and Ron on the pointed ends. "I did not expect such mirth and brute from you Harry, what would Dumbledore say.....you've become so...."  
Harry woke up with a start. He ran his hand along scar tissue running from his left cheek along his neck and across his chest. This was a recurring nightmare of his. He didn't want to relive it, he hated it. Yet his own mind took some sadistic satisfaction in torturing itself. He had a good two hours sleep anyway after the last nights debacle and he had work to do. He picked up the glass of water and relished it, as he kept it on the coaster he watched it refill itself. He had come to find delight in these little feats of magic, there was something so amazing in something so simple.  
He shook himself out of his musings and dawned a loose T-Shirt and left for the dining room. He was feeling famished this morning.   
"Master Harry, the breakfast is ready" Kreacher pulled a chair for Harry and let him rest. He picked up today's Prophet and started reading through it. He had started realizing that behind all the propaganda and lies you could still decipher some real motivations and facts if you read closely. It was not a skill he was proficient in but he was learning. He had started getting news papers from different countries too on Hermione's advise. It had started giving him perspective of how things looked from the outside and figuring out allies and potential allies for now and for the future. He took a bite out of the delicious toast Kreacher had prepared and took a soothing sip of his black tea.  
Where there is Tea there is hope. After finishing his toast he took out a fag and lit it. Tea and fag was another one of those combos which helped him zone in on his tasks. He was reading about the new license regime that was being set up in the free market. Only a few families will be able to licence businesses. Everyone knew which families were these going to be. He was going onto the next piece of news when Kreacher pulled Harry back from his thoughts and told him Lav's team has checked out of the shift safely at the safe house. A part of him was relieved. Even after all the battles he had fought he still had a hard time not running after his friends and let them take care of things. He couldn't fight all the battles all the time and everywhere, this was a lesson that had learnt by paying a hefty cost.  
He went in his study and after finishing up to resume his work. He was busy with reading some parchment that Pushkin had sent to discuss. As he was going through it , it seemed they were on the brink of solving one of the most important problems and this would give him a far upper hand over the snakeface. "Your bodyguard is coming" Lycoris quipped, Harry knew what she meant. Kreacher suddenly chimed in his study "Mister Russeldorf wants to meet you Master, should I approve his travel",   
"Yes Kreacher , let him through". Kreacher snapped his fingers and Harry heard the unmistakable stomps of The Dorf approaching his study from the fireplace. Dorf was a forty something Prussian ex-hit wizard. He was easily recognized by his huge stature , broad shoulders and handlebar mustache and short blonde hair. He was dressed in common jeans and tucked in shirt and trademark Doc Martens. Dorf was once a gun for hire and was hired by the order for an overseas mission. Once the mission was completed , his identity was leaked to some snake sympathizers.  
When Harry came to know about the hit placed on Dorf and his family too late he reached in the nick of time to save his wife and son. Sometimes he cursed himself for jumping into situations like a blockhead but he could never live with that burden if he didn't. When he reached Dorf's house to warn him, he saw the house was burning and Dorf was fighting against three cloaked men and the other two were making the child watch as they tortured the mother. Something snapped so fast and hard that the man holding the Dorf's wife was beheaded in such a clean fashion that it cauterised the neck. The man holding the child ran for his life but suddenly the vines emerging from the ground held him back. Harry put a body bind on him and joined Dorf. They were then easily able to massacre the rest. The mother had hid the child away from the scenes of the battle. That was the day when Dorf joined harry in his crusade.  
"Who was it this time ?" Dorf started speaking from the threshold of Harry's study and was followed by cursing and grumbling Kreacher who was brooming the dirt Dorf had bought with himself.  
"I suppose Lavender told you about last night , well I am not surprised" Harry said,   
"Of course she told me, she is my student" Dorf replied. Harry dropped the parchment on the table and rested back, "Have you had breakfast ?" Harry asked.   
"Yeah , Jane doesn't let me put a foot out of the house without it" Dorf grumbled. Jane was Dorf's wife, she reminded Harry a lot of Molly. She was a great chef too and had same caring nature.   
Harry smiled, "Kreacher, bring some tea for me and Rus".   
Dorf knew Harry was delaying, "Now will you get on with it or should I wait for next attack to ask the little snakes themselves" ,   
"Right , so last night the attack was by a 7 man team, they were all white masks , not silvers. Tonk's team was on point, and Lav's was backup and that's all I know for now. I've yet to debrief Bill before I could make more sense of this attack". Dorf was listening intently and was guessing this was the literal picture but the depth was definitely missing. Harry saw Dorf was processing the information, "How about I debrief Bill, I can spare you the work , also It'll give me some ideas for my teams next week" Dorf suggested intently,   
"No, I'll take the debrief, however you have a point, I'll convene a meeting soon so I don't have to repeat the same thing to everyone. I hate meetings though" Harry whispered the last part. Harry smiled, Dorf had become a favorite in the order very early and with no less help from delightful wife Jane. It was nice to see some life in the Order.  
"Do you think Aurors were part of yesterday's assault ?" Dorf was part of the team that fought against a rag tag group of Death Eaters and Aurors. Harry knew this was coming but was still surprised when confronted with facts. Aurors and Death eaters working interchangeably . Minstry was now just a gutter of Voldemort's shit."It is a possibility but we'll know when Bill comes over. But I know for a fact that Auror corps is not happy getting tagged along with Death Eaters",  
"Why ? Did someone grew a conscience in the ministry ?" Dorf smirked.   
"No such thing unfortunately , mostly Bureaucracy and egos clashing" Harry replied, he knew that Aurors were trained for their jobs but were insulted when they were partnered with goons.  
"But all that is beside the point for now. Now back to the reason why I wanted to meet you today. I want to you to collect a shipment for me. This shipment is rather personal in nature so I want you to keep this just between us." Harry opened one of the drawers of his desk, took out a blank piece of parchment and handed it over to Russ.   
"I think by day after tomorrow this paper will self ink itself with the time and location so don't worry about it now. It should be a one day job" Harry closed the drawer and waited for the interrogation. "Should I be on the lookout for something" Russ asked, "Always, don't let your guard down" . "These raids are becoming common Harry, people have made fear a part of their lives now. We should do something about it." Dorf was concerned and he should be. Situation had started to go downhill very fast now. "Thanks Russ, I am working on it, also tell Hi to Jane and Little Harry from me. I haven't seen them in long time." Harry had taken liking to the little boy.   
"You know you can come by any time you want. Jane also loves to have you over. It'll do you some good to come out of this..hmm...ghastly building." And that was the spark, "Ancestral home of the ancient house of Black, seat of the Lord Black...." Before Lycoris could finish her snark   
"I don't like this wench Harry" which made Lycoris so mad that she couldn't speak.  
"Jane has invited some people from the order over for dinner tomorrow night, you too......wait! before you start denying, mull it over, it will do you some good and I've got a really good aged Firewhiskey" Dorf finished. It had indeed a been a lot of time since he had a social call in a many months. But then again he was as inept at social events as a fish out of the water. "Sure Russ, thanks for the invite, I'll have Lycoris inform you".  
After Dorf had left, Harry was thinking about Dorf's words about People having made a fear a part of their lives. People always saying the right things. Neighbours selling out each other as muggle sympathisers to settle scores. Rampant hatred and racism which was in the undertones of the wizarding world now was in the open. It was getting ugly out there. He himself had been involved in unsavoury operations where he had to honey trap people and blackmail them to get the information. The war was going to end one way or the other, Harry wondered what will come after all this madness ends.  
The pain in his head had started. He was master of the pain now. He had come to live with constant pain in his head as another background noise. Occulomancy was not a one stop solution as Sanpe had touted. Keeping those shields up and active all the time was numbing something inside him. He could feel a part of him getting irreversibly damaged due to this exercise.  
After meeting with various associates and corroborating information with various sources Harry sent a message to Bill to postpone his debrief for next order meeting. His source had confirmed some of his intuitions about the going ons in the ministry. His work had been cut out for him. Things were worse than he had anticipated and he had to accelerate his plans.  
It was six in the evening when he went to his makeshift training facility. It was basically an enlarged basement with lot of reinforcing spells to keep his disasters contained. He had been practising a spell he found in one of the books in Black Library. Knowing how to fire a spell and using it in the battle conditions were both very different things. He was still having problems performing this spell under pressure. A condensed sphere of light the size of a tennis ball suddenly exploded throwing him far enough to bang his head against the wall.   
"If I didn't knew any better I would say you don't want to learn this spell. I knew you were inept but to see someone become worse after practising is feat a few can display" snarked Phineas Nigellus. Harry had been now practising this spell for two hours now today and was exhausted. Ignoring the jibe from Phineas, he stood up from the ground and massaging his head. He had to get this spell down before he gets the chance to need it.   
"Pushkin is here to visit you as requested. You want me to pull him through." Asked Phineas,   
"Yeah. let him". Harry had a quick shower and went to his study to meet the man.  
"Good evening Pushkin, please keep sitting." Pushkin was a short and lanky , wore square frames and had south Asian features.   
"I read your study about the project. It's very interesting and certainly a game changer. I think once we start using it in the field it can really turn the tables". Pushkin was a man of few words and believed that actions spoke louder than words. This was one of the reason that Harry had taken a liking to him. Harry liked Pushkin's no bs , to the point and pointed analysis.  
"I am glad you like it. The progress has plateaued a bit, but now with Hermione's input I am sure it will pick pace. The field trials were definitely popular. Tonks, Bill and George definitely gave positive reviews and want it in production mode asap".  
"I have pretty much taken all the inspiration from muggles. But I am facing a trade-off between bandwith and distance. If we can go long distance, we will have a weapon that will baffle the ancestry of these snakes." Pushkin was really enthusiastic about the project. Harry was listening intently and knew that Puskin was not overestimating , he himself was just as enthusiastic to get this project on the field.   
"How many people and how big of a perimeter can we support for the first battle run ?" Harry questioned.  
"Within 5km/sq we I can put n number of people, I can stretch it to 7 with diminished results", This was interesting. Harry advised Pushkin to battle harden the equipment with George and Hermione's help and wanted the next week's team all wearing it and using it.  
"How is your pain now ? I know about the last night's raid. I know you still get the pricks of pain when something is going down." Harry knew that his affliction was one of the active projects Pushkin was working on. Pushkin had supplied him with some potions that were sometimes a boon for Harry. Pushkin had given him some potions which were akin to muggle anaesthesia but they were highly specialized and a slice of genius. The potions were magical neuro anesthetics. They put his mind in a meditative state and helped maintain his occulomancy shields without any conscious effort. Snape would have been proud of such an invention. But for the potions to work the subject had to be as proficient and a long term user as Harry. So it was pretty useless for anyone else. Harry took those potions usually before battle or on special occasions.   
"My pain is constant now but it is manageable. It getting hard to differentiate between changes in pain levels". Pushkin was listening,   
"Unfortunately we cannot divert the pain back to the snakepiss because it's his soul inside you and I suspect he is doing this deliberately now." Pushkin was aware probably more than anyone that that Harry was in pain. He was aware of the subtle changes in personality in Harry. The pain was making his friend miserable. The worst part was that it was growing. Pushkin had come to realize that Harry was a vessel for two souls and one of those souls was parasitic in nature. A lot of men would have gone insane or given up , but here was someone who had not. It was enough for him to hold Harry in a league of men he would always respect.  
"The new facial scar you've acquired, it is magical in nature. I can remove it but it will take some research" Pushkin said diverting the topic. "My cosmetics can wait , keep things in the same priority order for now. I want to see our project in action as soon as possible." They both had reached an understanding in a swift manner and that was then of it.  
"I'll take leave then. If the pain becomes unmanageable then I recommend taking a dose." Harry nodded and Pushkin got up and left. There were different voices in the gallery outside his study. He knew the people by their footsteps. He heard Pushkin greeting Hermione and Ron and then heard the chatter moving towards his room.  
He was already smiling. Just as the door opened Harry got up , Ron and Hermione walked in "talking intensely" about something and then stopped when they saw Harry standing watching them. Hermione lunged and hugged Harry tightly. "It has been a long time mate" Ron smiled as Hermione jerked the air out of Harry's lungs. "It's alright Hermione , I've missed you both too." Hermione let go finally. "When are you going to get that hideous scar wiped from your face. Haven't you got enough on your face already ?"  
"I will Mioe when I get time to solve that problem, but enough about me already, How was the honeymoon then. Did you guys like place ?"  
Ron and Hermione had finally decided to tie the knot. Everyone pretty much knew that it was bound to happen. Due to some work and raging battles their honeymoon was delayed by six months now.  
"It was great Harry, I haven't been that relaxed in years. Also did you know that the magical settlement on Madagascar is even more ancient that the one in Britain or even the Indus valley....."  
"The food was amazing too, mate..." Ron interrupted Hermione before she went tangent.  
Harry laughed. "Yeah I guessed some tropical fun was due for you guys"  
"Yeah , talking of fun there were some funny business yesterday night, Bill told me" Ron asked as he saw Harry's expression turn to serious. Ron was second in command to Harry. If He was unavailable then the decisions went to Ron. Ron was just as informed as Harry was when it came to snakes. Ron also had some of his own confidants in the Ministry, thanks to Arthur's goodwill.  
"Yeah, we were concerned since we had no information of this attack. And the numbers were high too this time. We were really in the blind for this one."Hermione observed.  
"I am aware. But I am happy with the outcome. the response time was good. Both teams had good coordination. No casualties. But we have to train them more for taking hostage"  
"Yeah, specially Lavender. She has definitely become pretty curse happy. I'll go through the attack in the pensive to and see how we can smooth over some tactical decisions."  
"Thanks Ron, that would be really helpful. Dead snakes are no use to us. We need more information than ever"  
"Besides the ongoing troubles. Pushkin has kept me apprised of the Horcrux situation. How bad is it Harry ?" Hermione chimed. Ron looked alert too.  
Harry saw both his friends sitting across the table with worried expression on their faces. Ron had his hand on Hermione's. He was extremely happy that his friends were happily married together. But this also mean there were boundaries that he shouldn't cross anymore. He was more reserved and , he couldn't unload all his worries on them. He knew that Ron and Hermione were his best friends but they were also a family now. He had lost something when they tied the knot officially.  
"I can't sense the spikes in pain anymore to pre-empt the strike of death eaters or any other mishap." Harry answered in a non descript way.  
"I guess that is a relief, at least you don't have to go through mini Crucios anymore" Ron reasoned.  
Harry smiled and knew he would get away for now but Hermione's expression was still calculative.  
"How are the preparations going on for Ginny's and Neville's wedding ?"Harry asked changing the topic. Ron and Hermione painted a pretty lively picture of the preparations. Apparently Ginny and Neville both wanted to go all out on their wedding. Russeldorf was in charge of the security of the wedding. Hermione was a bit apprehensive of having a full blown wedding in this chaos but subtle was something Ginny was not. Neville was on cloud nine and his grandmother couldn't be more happy. Fluer and Hermione were both in the frontline of the wedding preparations. Molly would have been delighted had she been alive to witness the wedding of her only daughter. Harry was happy to see everyone looking forward to some festivities rather than an upcoming battle. He himself was on high alert to make sure nothing like Bill and Fleur's wedding was going to be repeated.  
"So are you coming to Russ's tomorrow, Jane has invited a lot of people over ?"Hermione asked.  
"I'll think over it. I have some work to do. But I'll definitely try."  
"Yeah mate, we both know what that means. You have to get out and live a bit. You are turning into Dumbledore." Ron said.  
"I am NOT! turning into Dumbledore. I am nothing like him."Harry said angrily.  
"That's not what Ron meant Harry. It's just you have been keeping a lot of secrets and I know for a fact that you don't discuss it with us. I know your pain in the head has increased and you have been looking for some really nasty methods to keep it at bay".  
Harry's face went white.  
"Yes! I have secrets. It is my job to carry them. this is what comes with this position. But don't accuse me of keeping them from you both. I tell you each and everything before I execute a plan. And don't compare me to Dumbledore. I don't play God with other people's lives. I've kept a pretty open book for people to make informed decision for themselves. Also you don't need to throw my pain every time in my face... not now Ron...I have been living with this since I was an year old Hermione, and when I say there is nothing abnormal. You take my word on it." Ron and Hermione were both silenced and looking at Harry as there was someone else sitting there and not their friend.  
"We get it mate, you are under a lot of pressure. It just an invitation to dinner. Some good food and nice company wouldn't do you any harm". Ron spoke.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to get off like that on you Hermione and yeah Ron, I'll come to the dinner"  
"That's all we ask Harry." After some niceties and when Ron and Hermione left. He opened his drawer and took out a fag and lit it. He asked Kreacher to get him a string cup of Tea. He took a deep drag and a sip of Tea. It had a calming effect on his mind. He didn't want to go off like that on Hermione and Ron. But sometimes it seemed like he was their unfinished project that they were always working on. it.  
He took the last sip of his tea and relaxed with his back to the chair. He took a deep drag of his fag.  
"I didn't knew you had it in you" Lycoris broke the silence. Harry ignored her.  
"You knew about the attack, didn't you ?!" accused Lycoris smiling. Still no reaction from Harry. He kept blowing a puff in the light fog that had accumulated in the room with his eyes closed. "You are playing a very dangerous game Harry, and I am intrigued". Harry snuffed the fag in the ashtray and left the room.

AN: I just want to inform the readers. I've already written the last chapter in this series. If I ever feel that I won't be able to continue. I will post that chapter. So this story will definitely end one way or another. Please leave your reviews and tell me if you want to see something or if you find something missing.Thanks.  
Simplex : It is a term encountered in electrical engineering. It is a model of communication where you can send a signal but cant reply back. Harry can hit Bella but her spells cant escape the cage.  
Vic Formation: Its just a V shaped formation of fighter jets. It looks really cool to me.


	3. Chapter 3

The twilight was creeping away to give way for the sweeping darkness in a little wizarding village near Saint Martin. Far from the scenery of Devon, this village was privy to fresh sea breeze every evening from the English Channel. It was a very old hamlet of wizarding community, some say it was a contemporary of Godric's Hallow. In this low lying village of Besmertha, witches and wizards were scurrying around rapidly to find their cosy corners in their homes with their families. Nobody wanted to risk roaming around outside raising each other's suspicion. These were troubled times indeed. Fear is often palpable when people accept it as a part of their lives.  
Among this humdrum nobody was able to notice that every few minutes a random set of people were always rushing towards a cosy two storied stone house. The house was itself nondescript, It was just as random as any other house in the vicinity. It was a stone cottage surrounded by trees and shrubbery with windows flickering with a shade of yellow. If anyone passed by the house they wouldn't hear the laughter and gossip coming from inside. It was late, the streets were empty and there was a couple walking rapidly towards this house, there was a light blue hue that'd be visible to a very trained eye when the couple crossed a certain threshold towards the house. The couple was indeed trusted and was anticipated inside, the ward had detected.   
"I told you we should've hurried, we are definitely the last ones to arrive." Lupin muttered.  
"I would have hurried if you helped me out with Teddy a bit , you know mother took her medicine today so I had to do everything" Tonks replied in irritation as they reached the door crossing several death traps like a stroll in the park. Lupin knocked on the heavy door three times. There was a sound of shifting chairs and Lupin could hear their names in bits of conversation when suddenly the door opened and they were greeted by a woman with platinum blonde hair and an oval face, she was not thin but not round too. She was just the equal to height of Russeldorf and just a bit taller than Lupin. She was elder to them all and sometimes she looked too. Jane opened the door with a smile and hugged Tonks and swooped her in, followed by Lupin who closed the door and noticed a light blue hue around the door's perimeter when it shut closed.  
Lupin knew that it was pretty much an open invitation but didn't knew everyone would actually come. Maybe it wasn't safe for everyone to be at the same place at the same time. Bill was the first to notice Lupin's smile fade into stoic expression and he smiled himself. They had been in the order together for so long and fought by each other's side so much that Bill knew Lupin had come to the same conclusion.  
"Don't worry Remus, the security is tight today with some of the best protections in place which I personally set up. Please have a seat and have some Tea with us".  
Lupin relaxed his shoulders a bit and smiled and went ahead to take a seat next to Tonks, who was sitting next to Ron and Hermione. In front of him were Neville, Ginny, Bill, Fleur, Jane and to Jane's left at the head of table was Russ.  
"They have a little tyke of energy running around. I think this couple needs something stronger Bill" Russ exclaimed to everyone's delight and took out a hip flask to hand it over to Remus.  
"Thanks Russ, but just Tea would be fine, I have missed Jane's special Tea for quite some time now" Lupin exclaimed.  
"Of course dear, a hot cuppa right just for you guys" said Jane and two cups landed gracefully in front of them with steaming tea. Jane then got up to leave for kitchen when Ginny also got up along with Fleur to Help out in the kitchen. It was a really good evening going on with casual conversations about Quidditch and business in general but as it was always the case these meeting usually swerved to the same topics.   
"I met Lav the other day, she told me about the attack but not the details. I don't think the alert levels were raised last week. Was it really out of the blue ?" Neville surmised after taking a sip of his Tea. That bought the casual conversations to the lull and drew everyone's attention. Ron who was rocking his chair back, now sat up straight and Hermione was looking towards Bill.   
"Yeah, Harry has decided to tell everyone the details at the order meeting. But it's true, the attack was pretty much unexpected. The alert level was also set normal. But we had the best teams on lookout and standby so it was taken care of" Bill obliged everyone while holding soaking the heat of the Teacup with both hands. Neville seemed satisfied by the details.   
"What do you think Russ ? It's our teams this week, I guess we have to be extra vigilant with Death eater activity increasing" Neville said to Russ who was taking a bit of a freshly baked cookie and sipping his tea. After he finished eating that delicious cookie , he washed it down with a sip of tea to answer Neville.  
"The problem is it's not just the Death eaters now. It's the Aurors and death eaters working together. Isn't it Ron"  
"We knew they were sharing intel for a long time and we had suspected it was a matter of time until The Snake plants his goons in the field too. It is definitely disheartening to see this prediction come to life though. And to think me and Harry once dreamed of joining the Aurors" Ron said looking to Hermione and holding her wrist softly.  
"Though enough of this doom and gloom, this is what order meetings are for. We are here to celebrate the new soon to be married couple" Hermione exclaimed and everyone on the table toasted to the occasion.  
"What is everyone toasting without us" Ginny came out suddenly with a smile on her face followed by Fleur and Jane.   
"We are toasting the start of this glorious evening to the lovely soon to be wedded couple" Russ announced in the deep voice to the delight of Ginny and Neville.  
Once everyone was seated and immersing themselves in some light conversations around the table, a recognizable growl from Ron's stomach was a signal which Jane immediately recognized and flicked her wand. Suddenly there was a whiff of the most appetizing aroma and heaps of food and delights flooded the table. Fleur was talking to Ginny about the latest trends in wedding gowns that Ginny could try, which Ginny was surprisingly interested in. Hermione was talking to Russ about the new Licensing bill that was working its way through the ministry. Ron and Neville were reminiscing about their Hogwarts days. Lupin was in deep conversation with Bill about the new project that they knew Harry was going to deploy on the field.  
"I don't think I've seen Pushkin this excited in a long time, I think he's even got Harry excited" Bill said to everyone's amusement.  
"Yes you're definitely true on that, I think it is a game changer. It just made everything so damn smooth. I've to give it to Pushkin and Hermione. This project was one hell of a banger" Lupin said as he rested his back after finishing up his dinner. Now everyone was interested in this piece of conversation.  
"It wasn't me really, I just provided an oversight but it was Pushkin, Harry and Ron who pushed for it. Pushkin really pulled out the stops with this piece of spellwork engineering"  
"Yeah, me and Harry are taking a lot of inspiration from muggle law enforcement to keep things efficient. It was Harry's idea to "collaborate" with muggle law enforcement to get their operating procedures and tweak it to our abilities" Ron said as he finished the last crumb of the Tart.  
"What are you guys talking about ?" Ginny asked for both her and Neville. Apparently it was an open secret. Not a lot of people were privy to it but it was already getting tested in the field.  
"Don't worry Neville, only one team had tested this project till now since we were working on getting the correct operation procedure to integrate it in the field. It'll help us coordinate our actions over long distance." Russ explained over Jane and Hermione discussing the Tart recipe.  
Now Ginny was even more interested."You guys made this contraption using muggle knowhow ? My dad would have been proud" Ginny beamed and Neville clutched her palm.  
"Speaking of Pushkin, where is he ?" Ron asked.  
"He's busy as usual dear. I think he should have someone to look after him. He sent a Patronus to inform us he's busy on some project. Living alone and among all those dangerous potions is a hazard" Jane concluded.  
"You're right I'll talk to him to get some rest. He really over exerts himself" said Ron.  
"But, Merlin's pants he comes up with the most astonishing stuff. I've never seen anyone so aggressive with their innovations" Russ exclaimed.  
"Talking of people living alone and in hazardous circumstances, where is he ?" Neville asked.  
"Exactly, we haven't seen him for such a long time in the shell cottage too." Fleur exclaimed.  
"You talked to him about tonight's party right Russ ?" Tonks asked  
.................................................................................................................................................

"So what.....so like someone you really hate ?" Harry was zoned in what was coming. But he was prepared. It was the first time they were fighting in a trained manner like a team. The Death eaters were taken by surprise when all their opponents suddenly ran away from the fight and took their position in the formation. And as the formation took shape of the double sided Vic attack, the little snakes ability to attack decreased rapidly as now they were fighting against a trained group of deathly fighters. It was more like Roman legion against disorganized Vikings. But the Vikings still had Voldemort.   
Voldemort was observing his little snake trying to break through but the Order formation was tight. The death eaters were scattered and aiming at random order members whereas the Order was coordinated and alternated from defence to offence in rapid succession. Lucius was hiding his frustration and face behind brutal curses.  
"You have a flair for surprise Harry. I could never imagine you would turn your Dumbledore's little harmless organization into this. You surprise me Harry" Voldemort talked silkily as he stood barefoot on the grass on a higher ground than Harry a few feet away. Harry was swatting curses away from himself effortlessly and was only concentrated on one thing, to get his team out before he looses them. They were under anti apparition wards. It was a standard tactic of both sided to set up anti apparition wards. Harry could take down his own but the snake's wards required time. As he was swatting curses away and Tonks and Luna were flanking him on each side , he launched a bright flare in the sky. The clock was ticking now and fight started afresh. Voldemort knew this too.   
Voldemort directly attacked harry with a barrage of purple curses which were whistling at a very high pitch as they travelled through air. Harry didn't want those curses to collide with his shield so near to him. He raised a light cubical de-escalation column in front of him which decelerated the curses and made them explode in a controlled way inside the column. The explosion of the curses definitely sent a feedback to Harry as he still held the column as it ingested more curses from Voldemort. Harry was getting cover fire from Luna and Tonks from both sides. On the other side of the formation Ron , Hermione and Bill were tutoring Dawlish and Lucius.  
"Impressive Harry, but still you've got a lot to learn..."  
Voldemort launched a black beam travelling fast and demolishing the column as it approached harry. Harry knew he had limited time. He released the green cubical column with a loud blast causing the column to explode at the point where the black beam was still in contact with it. both Harry and Voldemort had their shield prepared for this outcome. And as soon as the aftermath subsided Harry and Voldemort both collapsed their shields and started hurling the hate towards each other. Harry was throwing propelled flagrate bombs , also called body burners. Voldemort responded with transfigured shields which were constantly burning and cracking Due to Harry's assault. Suddenly there was arc lightning in a dome above them. It meant the wards were partially down and apparition was on the cards...

Harry woke up suddenly sweating in his basement. This dammn dream. Every dammn time.  
"I'd say we made a lot of progress today Harry"  
"Thanks Phineas"  
He looked at his watch and realised he missed the dinner which he never intended to attend. It was like some burden lifted off him when he realised that he was too late to even contemplate going.  
He took out a fag from the breast pocket of his shirt and lit it. He was sitting with his back against the cool wall. He took a deep drag and exhaled . It felt nice. He got up and walked out of the basement after closing the door behind him. He climbed up and then went towards his study and then went inside.   
"You've missed the dinner Harry. For once why don't you get out of the house and enjoy yourself a bit. You might be the most gloomy Black lord to my knowledge."  
Harry could sense a head ache coming already.   
"I am going out for some work Lycoris. The rota for this week is set. You know how to reach me in case anything goes down"  
"Don't worry Harry, I'll take care of it. Don't do anything you would do...".  
The pain in his head had been growing worse than he was letting on. Sometimes it was like his Occulomancy shields were being hit like a gong and he had to absorb the reverb as long as he was conscious. He couldn't rely on potions always since he can't spend his days as mentally challenged. He needed something to dull the symptoms at least. This was tonight was all about for him. He walked out of his study and towards the hallway. He dawned an overcoat and put on the glamour which was now second nature to him while going out. The moment he stepped out of the house. The cool breeze brushed him which soothed him a bit to his surprise . While standing on his doorstep, he took out a miniature cloak out of the pocked of his overcoat and resized it. After dawning his cloak he stepped out of the range of multitude of fortifying wards of number twelve and disapparated with a soft pop. After a series of false trails he landed in western and rather rural part of western Gloucestershire. He had expended a lot of resources to track this witch. He had got hold of a lineage of wizards and witches that blacks consulted for occult and sometimes Dark magics. The person he was supposed to meet today is the last remaining direct ancestor of that lineage.  
Harry landed in a clearing of trees running alongside a gravel path. The dark of night and the cover of trees had made it impossible to see anything. Had he not explored this area before he wouldn't know where to go.   
"Lumos"  
In a dim glow of his wand he caught up to the gravel path. The path seemed to be covered more and more in grass as he went ahead and it seemed no one had used it in a long time. What little remained of that road now lead him directly into a forest. As harry crossed the threshold from the gravel road into the forest an eerie quiet numbed him. All the rustling of leaves and the crunch of stones under his shoes was inaudible to him. He knew he had stepped into a ward and tightened his grip on his wand. He had read in one of the diaries of his predecessors about how to initiate the hand shake if he wanted to meet this family. He was growing tired of the antics he had to do every time but he had to respect these procedures as he was guest and needed their help.   
Harry took out his wand and pointed his wand on tree nearby. He took off his cloak , resized it and put it back in his overcoat.  
"Anazencius"  
A beam of white light hit the tree and was absorbed. Suddenly from the point of impact a luminescence appeared and it travelled down the trunk on the forest floor harry could see the light travelling as if it was tracing the roots of tree on the surface and connecting to different roots , all he had to do was follow the glow.  
Harry could feel as if he was walking in vacuum. After around a minute of following the glowing root patterns it lead him to his destination. The glow touched the steps of a little house and disappeared and Harry was assaulted by the rustlings of the forest and sounds of the night. He could hear again now. Harry was standing in front of a small cottage in clearing of a dense forest cover. Harry started walking towards its front door and knocked three times on the front door.  
Suddenly a warm glow appeared out of the window on his right outlining some furniture. He could hear some rustling of furniture and faint footsteps coming closer. He tucked his wand inside. The door was opened by a frail looking lady who was in her nineties. Lucretia was the last of name. The house of Riddicks was a branch of Malfoy family which had diluted over the years. Lucretia Riddick was the last remaining descendant of this house.   
"come in boy, no need to be brave"   
"Thanks Lucretia, Its been a long time since we last met." Harry stepped in the cosy little room and took of his overcoat. As he sat down on the sofa and put his coat next to him, Lucretia followed him and sat in front of him.  
"When you're my age it doesn't seem that long" Lucretia picked up a canteen with both her hands and took a sip of something which harry would rather not guess.  
Harry was sitting in front of her , watching her taking one sip after another and waiting for Lucretia to take the lead.  
Lucretia was a frail looking women with white hair and a little hunch in her back. She seemed to take the last sip out of her canteen and relaxed back in her armchair.  
"You've gotten worse since our last meeting. But I don't need to tell you that"  
"I need something to numb the pain. It worked the last time." Harry replied. He was sitting with his back straight on the sofa.  
"I will be harder this time. Your infection has grown. It will require a higher dosage to get the same effect" Lucretia's lips curled a little in a smile when she said the last sentence.  
Harry's frown indicated that the matter was not yet resolved.  
"I am sorry for what you have Harry. At my age its hard to bear the weight of my own soul. I cant imagine what its like for you."  
"Aren't you lucky then" Harry muttered.   
"It must really be hurting today" Lucretia voiced her sarcasm.  
"I'd like to have some tea before we start the procedure." Harry said now more relaxed than before.  
"Sure, there is some fresh tea in the kettle . I'll bring out the potions " Lucretia got up and started to go to another room across her. Harry in the mean time got up and poured himself some black tea. He was standing with the cup in his hand and looking out the window, into the forest. He didnt know how much time had passed looking out the window when he heard Lucretia dragging herself back with two bottles of potions in her hand.  
Harry saw her sit on her armchair and keep both bottles on the table. One had a dark potion with a purple hue and another was clear like water.   
"If you're done contemplating, we can begin" Lucretia quipped. Harry smiled and kept his cup of tea back and walked back to the sofa and sat down.  
"The dark one first Harry, you know the ritual."  
Harry picked up the bottle containing the dark liquid , uncorked it and gulped it whole. He kept the bottle back on the table and relaxed almost unnaturally with a stupid smile on his face. Lucretia knew it was working but what made her worry was the amount of dose that it took for this young man to relax. Harry was now totally relaxed with his head facing the ceiling and resting comfortably on the sofa.   
Lucretia stood up from her chair and unstrapped her wand from her calf. She pointed her wand at Harry's heart.  
"asercaneous!"  
An orange hue just appeared on the tip of her wand and disappeared. She now lowered her wand and went behind the sofa harry was sitting on. She now looked directly in his eyes. She saw thin neon yellow rings around his pupils. It was time to go in.  
She pointed the wand at his head   
"Legionosis" she whispered.  
Harry didn't knew how long he was out but when he woke up from the trance it seemed like he had been asleep for ages. He raised his head which was still in pulsating pain. He looked out the window, it was still dark.  
"How long was I out Lucretia ?"  
"Just a few minutes, don't worry its natural to feel this"  
Lucretia walked to her chair from behind Harry and sat down in front of him. she was watching him gravely.  
"Can we make this process a bit faster, I've to go back too. I've got some work to finish off"   
"If you want to have the procedure today. I suggest you should have someone go back along with you. A friend maybe ?" Lucretia asked  
"What are you saying, I had a few hours of rest last time and I was good to go."  
"It will take more than a few hours this time Harry. You'll spend the night here." Harry looked at her as if she might as well have dropped another prophesy.  
"That BASTARD!"  
"I am sorry Harry, but it has advanced. Faster than I had anticipated"  
Harry calmed down a bit and took out his wand.   
Harry conjured his patronus and sent a message to Ron, and the glowing mass of happiness galloped away. Harry was filled with dread again. He was looking at the clear liquid as if it contained death.  
"This is a lot more than before and It only gives me three weeks ?" Lucretia just nodded gravely. He snapped up the bottle of clear liquid and uncorked it. He drank the whole bottle and placed it back on the table.  
Harry could feel his body getting warm from inside. The slow warm was now turning into fire. It was as if alcohol was seeping under his skin everywhere from his head to toe and then someone put a fire to it.   
"NOW Lucretia!" Harry almost shouted in agony.  
Lucretia pointed her wand so fast at Harry.  
"Petrifuus totalis"  
She could see hem writhing in pain. He was just a child. No one should go through what this boy was about to go through.  
Lucretia was an expert in the matters of soul. And what was in front of her was an abomination of what she considered art. Harry was a Horcurx. She knew.   
The two souls of Harry had forged a connection, to his own soul and the connection was getting stronger and stronger at the cost of his own soul. Harry was hurling towards something what had never been witnessed. She couldn't cure the boy of this disease but she could numb the symptoms for sure. To reduce his pain the connection had to be weakened. It couldn't be broken but it could be severed enough to give some normalcy. This was a temporary solution.   
The clear solution was to anchor the spells on the parasitic soul and not on the pure soul, also it fortified the mind against going haywire due to pain . But taking this solution made a person feel he was on fire inside out.  
But it was the first step, it was the next step that weakened the connection.  
Lucretia pointed the wand at Harry's chest.  
"CRUCIO!"

In a small Hampton far away from the clutches of dark magic and soul bonds, a nice evening was coming to an end in Russ' home. Everyone was finishing up with the Dessert.  
"It was amazing Dinner Jane, I'd love to have the recipe for this pie. Remus loves it too" Tonks said after rubbing her rubbing her stomach.  
Jane laughed "sure dear, anytime you're free you can come. I'll teach it to you."  
"I don't think you got it Jane, what Tonks really meant was, Remus you should really learn this recipe because I like to eat it" Remus smiled and everyone burst into laughter.  
"Good girl, she keeps you on your toes Lupin" Dorf said.  
Russ' son came running down into the dining room. "Its really hard to get some work done if you guys keep laughing like that." Harry complained to his father.  
"Okay, we'll keep it down for your convenience my lord" Dorf replied and smiled.   
"Where is Mr. Potter ?" Harry asked, and made his intention pretty clear why he came running down. It caused everyone to smile.  
"Mr. Potter, wow! I don't think anyone has ever said that in such a sweet way." Ron said to the embarrassment of young Harry.  
"That is definitely true Ron" Hermione said.  
"Sorry kid, Uncle Harry had some important work to take care of. He's really busy. I am sure he'll come next time." Russ consoled little Harry a bit.  
"Sure father or maybe we can go and meet him sometime." Harry replied and took a swipe at his father's dessert and ran back. Russ smiled and turned back to the table.  
"He reminds of Ginny a bit when she was his age, she was so sweet back then" Ron said wiping an imaginary tear when a pea hit him on his forehead.  
"Oye!"  
"I was not that bad. I was eleven and star struk!" Ginny replied.  
"You were not the only one if it's any consolation" Neville joined in to everyone amusement.  
Russ suddenly took out his wand and everyone was ready in a split second later.   
"A ward just went off" Russ broke the silence.  
Harry's patronus appeared next to Ron in a sudden flash to everyone's astonishment. Seeing the stag was a rare sight in the years that has followed the battle of Hogwarts.   
"Ron is in-charge. I am away for some work which will keep me away from Order till tomorrow afternoon at least. Ron , Lycoris will attend to you in case you need anything." said Harry's calm voice and then the stag vanished.

Everyone was stunned for a second because the stag was really beautiful, also Harry hardly communicated over open channels.  
"What the hell was that about? I not seen Haary's patronus in ages." Neville said.  
Everyone sat back down slowly and pushed back their wands.   
"Did you know he was going somewhere tonight Ron ?"Remus asked Ron.  
"He didnt say anything to me. It is news to me."  
"He hasn't told anything to me either" Hermione said looking at Ron.  
"LYCORIS! I want you here, that wench would know about it" Russ said. "Language!" Jane snapped.  
Lycoris gladly floated into one the frames on the wall in front of Russ.  
Ron was the person to ask the question.  
"Is he in any trouble Lycoris ?"  
"He is always in trouble Ronald. what type of question is that." Lycoris smiled  
"You know what he means Lycoris. Harry almost never uses his patronus. What happened ?" Hermione questioned.  
"He used his Patronus ?! interesting." Lycoris liked drama.  
"If you don't answer me I'll freeze your frame Lycoris" Hermione said angrily.  
"Alright, no need to get testy. He has gone to meet a friend and Ron is in command until he returns."  
"Do we know of this friend ?" Hermione asked.  
"I cant discuss any further matters pertaining to Lord Black, If you require any other service I'll be glad to help."   
"I dont think it's as big of a deal we are making it out to be. Maybe he has something going on he doesn't want us privy to. Let's not forget he has a personal life too." Fleur digressed.  
"I agree with Fleur, maybe he is out on personal business, but it was the Patronus that worries me."  
"Also one more thing, Order meeting tomorrow night, Headquarters. Harry has marked tomorrows meeting as high priority. Ronald and Hermione, you are both required , he asked to convey personally. Ronald he wants you to start the meeting in case he is late. The talking points are self inked in your memoir." Lycoris conveyed the last sentence along with a yawn. She really likes the dramatics.  
"What the hell is going on Lycoris. No more joking." Ginny snipped at the portrait.  
"Young Lady, I am an emissary of Harry. Your brother is Harry's right hand man. Ask him! I am going for some rest now." Lycoris walked away into a beautiful scenery.  
"I think we should leave for tonight. It is a sumptuous dinner Jane and we are obliged for it every time." Ronald started getting up at the end along with Hermione.  
"Yeah Russ it was a great evening, but it seems Harry has got something big for all of us tomorrow." Neville quipped.  
Everyone started getting up one by one wishing Russ and Jane a good night and walking away into dark and apparating away.


	4. Chapter 4

The Order’s anti apparation wards were down the moment Harry sent out the red flare. The arc lightning in the invisible dome meant that the Order’s spotter was able to corrupt the Snake’s anti apparition wards but not able to totally put it down. Harry knew what had to be done in this case and so did Ron. Harry had given explicit orders before the mission “We evacuate if Voldemort arrives”.

If the anti apparation wards are corrupted then apparation had to be done in a very specific manner. If multiple people tried to get out at once then it would cause mass splinching. Luckily they had prepared for this scenario.  
The flank in the middle was supposed to go first from left to right in order. This meant they were supposed to apparate one by one which meant heavy pressure on those remaining. Ginny and Neville were in the middle of double sided Vic formation. They were the first to leave. Now the remaining members were fending off more curses than before.  
“Don’t let them leave Lucius!” Bellatrix screamed while sitting with legs folded on the grass, smiling and caressing her cauterized wound. 

“Kill them all my faithful Death eaters” Voldemort announced calmly.  
The remaining order fighters on the field were in highly defensive mode. Lupin was holding blast shield against Dawlish to make sure Russ escaped. The moment Russeldorf escaped Lupin release a blast shield with an explosion to cover for his disapparation.  
Now Lucius and his snakes were bombarding the remaining Order members with AKs, Bone breakers, dark curse beams and even hexes to gain an element of surprise. The whole air reeked of singed grass and burnt fauna. Harry was holding himself against Voldemort but in his mind he knew that things were not looking good. This won't be a clean escape. He had to come up with something fast or him and Ron would be decimated right here. The Order had a spotter whose sole job was to manage and corrupt the anti-apparition wards and to stay away from the battle as much as possible and never to reveal his location. Today the spotter was Lavender Brown. It was Tonks and Luna’s turn to get the hell out of there next. 

“I am not leaving you here alone Harry, you can't take on everyone alone.” Tonks tried to reason with Harry while covering his flank while he was actively defending himself from Voledemort’s venom curses. These curses were melting through magical shields and had to be countered by actively creating shields by transfiguration. Luna was on Harry’s right and was on the offensive throwing curses with broad range, she was using Bill’s crater curses to blow holes in the ground to keep the Death Eaters moving and from actively targeting their friends. “I sense despair in the air today Harry, we can't leave you here” Luna quipped calmly.  
“I order you both to get out now or I’ll make sure you’ll never be a part of Order again.” Harry barked, it prompted Luna to go first . “We’ll talk about this” Tonks said and vanished with a pop in a disgruntled state. Harry could see there was now continuous blue hue in the hemispherical dome above them. It was a sign that the Death Eaters were trying to fix the wards but Lav was actively trying to hold the attempts off. He knew it was only a matter of time before they were trapped.

“Hermione, Bill you’ve to leave right NOW we’ve got no damn time!” Harry shouted. The moment Harry’s flank disappeared he knew the attacks would multiply on him by a large factor. His back was still covered by Ron and his flanks. “You’ve lost Harry, kneel and surrender your wand and then maybe we’ll spare your… friends.” Voldemort made a suggestion while ejecting the shadow bind curse on Harry.  
“We are not leaving you two alone here Ron, you’ll be mad to think that we will leave” Hermione chimed and Bill was piping the same sentiment while the trio was now defending Harry’s back and Bill was firing curses to cause a disarray among the ranks. 

“Ron! Manage your flank!” Harry shouted while swatting away snake-ass’ curse and upholding a barrage of shields against around ten death eaters. Harry heard Ron bellowing something and then heard two distinct pops. Now they were just the two of them against around twenty death eaters and Voldemort. 

“I hate this Harry.” Ron shouted as they were fighting in back to back defensive formation. The Death Eaters were now closing the distance between them and were trying to make the final blow. Unaware in the heat of battle Harry had missed a shadow snake slithering close to him. “Get out now Ron! They are trying to get the wards up!” Harry had transfigured some boulders nearby into rectangular columns which were taking hits from all sides and were getting thinner with every blow. With his back covered by Ron and covered on three sides by flimsy physical shields Harry knew that the moment Ron vanished he’d be done. He had to hold off for just a few more seconds. 

“The patch is almost done Harry. There is no guarantee we’d be able to make out with all parts intact”, Harry had also noticed the same. They had to start moving as he couldn’t hold this position any more. If they kept on fighting from this position they’d get surrounded. They had to move to a forest line fast to get some more cover and space to maneuver. 

“Ron keep the holding pattern. I'll create a distraction so we can take cover in the forest and give Lav more time to get us out”.

“Got it Harry” Ron acknowledged.

Voldemort was now throwing body burning curses and spells which were so dark that their proximity to Harry’s shield caused him to shiver. He only hoped that his next gambit paid off. Harry had been on the defensive for quite long and got in a position where he could attack. Harry reached into the pocket of his black overcoat and took out a fist sized smoke bomb. He bent down behind his physical shields and threw the bomb in the sky and then aimed a fine flagration spell on it in the middle of its flight. 

“Ron! Anytime now”. The moment the spell hit the bomb there was an explosion and instant darkness had covered the whole area.

“Don't let those ungrateful brats get away to idiots!” Voldemort snarled.

“You can't run away Potter, we have re warded the whole area. You won't get away”, Lucius shouted in a general direction. But it was late already. Ron and Harry had started sprinting as fast as they could the moment Harry launched the spell. 

“Watch me snake bitch” The moment the blackness started clearing there was a small explosion at Harry’s previous position. At the moment of explosion all the remaining powder in the air caught on fire and caused horrific screams to each and every death eater who was surrounded by it. The sweet sound of burning death eaters was music to Harry’s ears. Harry and Ron were smiling and panting behind the cover of trees and were ready to attack now that they had ample cover.

“You will pay for this dearly, Potter, I will make sure you relive each and every pain before you die” Bellatrix screamed like a maniac.

“I saw arc lightning again, I think Lav’s got it now, let me try'' Ron said. Suddenly Ron disapparated with a very soft pop. It was a relief. Suddenly Harry felt something crawling behind his leg as he was standing behind a tree in a dense forest. He tried to get it off but he couldn't see it. Then he felt it against his bare chest. It was like the scaly skin of a snake. Suddenly his blood ran cold. He tried to get it off his chest by grabbing it but couldn't. The snake itself was not visible but only its black shadow on his chest.

“My snakes will find you Harry and they will not spare you!” Voldemort boomed. Harry tried to disapparate but couldn't . “Get off you damn reptile!” but it was as good as part of his skin now. He could hold and feel the snake but it was stuck to his skin. It moved as it liked but Harry couldn’t make it move. Harry couldn't even disapparate. What if this snake somehow transmitted his safehouse location to Voldemort? Firstly he had to get out of the warded area. Running seemed as good as an idea right now. “Point me”.

Harry started running towards a clearing he wanted and could maybe try to disapparate from there. As he was running ...he started feeling a tingle in his skin everywhere below the snake. As he was running he could feel his skin getting warm. The warmth turned into heat, hot enough to burn the skin.

Agony was a word that would describe Harry’s current condition perfectly. Now that snake had charred his skin it started slithering above and began warming again…..  
Harry wished he could die now rather than live with this prolonged agony. He put a handkerchief in his mouth while running so as to muffle his scream. He would run and halt and try to disapparate somewhere. The snake slowly moved to his back from his abdomen, burning the flesh along the way. Harry just laid down on the ground with muffled cries of pain, he couldn't take it anymore. Think... Think... Think. What would Hermione do? But the pain was overwhelming enough to defeat his sense of reasoning. With hot poker burning your skin it was pretty hard to reason your way out of a dark curse. He could sense that the Death Eaters were still searching for him. Maybe they knew he was still here, but how? He knew if he had to get out here alive he had to do something fast. 

“It has been five minutes since you apparated Ron, where is Harry?!” Tonks asked. Ron was pacing in front of a fireplace in a desolate ramshackle safe house. “He should’ve been here the second after I came.” There could be nothing keeping him there now. Ron could hear Bill’s voice from the two way mirror. “Everyone has assembled hare Ron, Lav too. Hope you guys reached there safely”.

“If Lavender is there then Harry is still under the wards. Bollocks!” Ron shouted. The fact that Harry was under wards among an army of snakes and Voldemort didn't bode well with anyone.

“What are you talking about! Shouldn’t he have come just after you. Were you both in the middle of a fight?”  
“No. I’ll turn on my transponder. Everyone portkey to our location” Ron told Bill. A second later Bill and the rest of the Order were there. 

“Me and Bill should go back with Ron, we are ready to move in right now” Russ said. 

“Wait, but where will you land, and how do you know that your previous location is also not compromised.” Neville surmised.

“I am not sitting here while Harry is in god knows what state. Merlin!. Lets go Ron” Hermione said.

“How far away from the fight were you Lavender.” Ron asked.  
“I was pretty far away Ron. I could barely see your skirmish. I was only able to see Harry’s flare. The death eaters were very thorough this time in warding the area.” 

Try to take me, Russ, and Tonks just inside the warded area. It was futile.  
“It warded heavily again,” Lavender guessed. We can apparate there Ron. It made sense then that Harry couldn't get out now. “I am coming with you Ron no matter what” Remus told Ron. Ron nodded.

Before Ron could ask Lavender to go back to her field position to corrupt the wards… Lycoris popped in the frame over the fireplace. Lycoris was distraught and was crying.  
“Ronald you’ve to come fast! It's Harry! He’s… oh Merlin, I’ve never seen something like this.”

''Ron and Hermione ran out of the door as fast as they could and disapparated, followed closely by Tonks, Remus and Russ. But after that no one was able to apparate into Grimmauld place. It was a defence mechanism set up by Harry. If apparations were detected in fast succession then there was a time lock and after some time the apparations were allowed again. 

“Bollocks!” bill cursed. We’ve to wait guys. The headquarters defenses are up again. We’ll know more on the mirror till then.

Harry was writing in pain as more of his skin was getting charred as the snake moved further onto his face. He knew he was definitely out of the warding scheme but it was the snake that was stopping him from disapparating. There was now only one way to save himself. Harry spelled to cut off his left sleeve. He rolled it up and stuffed it in his mouth. He had to do it now or else the Death eaters would close up on him. Harry grabbed one end of the snake near his navel and PULLED IT HARD! The snake was slowly ripping out of is abdomen along with his skin along the way. The snake had wrapped itself around Harry from navel to the back, then to the neck and his face. Pulling off the snake from his body also literally skinned him alive. Harry was able to take the snake off his body and with remaining consciousness and burned it with the little energy he had. Then he disapparated bleeding and almost dead to the steps of Grimmauld place.  
“Kreacher…” the elf appeared instantly and was horrified at the state of flesh and bones lying there.

“Call Pushkin” and Harry passed out.  
←o→

Harry woke up cursing his own nightmares. The scattered beams of sunlight hitting him woke him up. He was lying on a bed in an organized and scantily furnished room. Considering what had gone through last night, he was feeling very light and the background pain due to soul sharing was also gone. It had worked. He had three more weeks of painless days. It was a nice realization to wake up to. He felt his wand in the back of his wrist and relaxed a bit more. Maybe he’ll just lie here and enjoy the day. The world would not catch fire if he was not vigilant one day. Maybe he’ll just keep lying and enjoy a nice chilled beer and fag in the middle of the day. It brought a pleasant smile to his face as he was gazing out of the window. 

“Smiling for no reason is the first sign of madness Harry” Lucretia announced with a tray of fresh juice and a sandwich. 

“Eat up boy, you’ve got nothing inside that bobbing skeleton of yours! I want it all finished by the time I am back” Lucretia came closer to his bed and put down her tray on the side table and went back to finish some chores.

“Tempus” Hmmm, he still had around two hours before the Order meeting. Maybe Ron will cover for him and he can take a nice nap. Damn he was hungry. Harry was feeling really good. Maybe this is how normal people feel all the time. Maybe they’d appreciate it more if they knew what he had to give up to get to this mental state. But morbid thoughts could wait. He was feeling very light and happy right now. He had to get hold of his wild ideas of skipping meeting and a nice lie in. Of course the world would burn down if he decided to take the day off. He got up and put his legs down on the cold stone floor. At the same moment he was feeling delightfully hungry and eyed the sandwich. It took just three bites to end that piece of food. The orange juice was so fresh and amazing, Harry relished the whole thing in one go.

Lucretia suddenly peeked inside with just her head popping in from the door frame and eyeing the tray of food. “Good boy, Come on down now Harry”.

Harry looked down and grabbed his Doc Martens. After tying up his docs he took his black overcoat off the hook behind the door and went to the kitchen. Lucretia was distilling some liquid which seemed interesting. 

“I take it you’re feeling good” Lucretia smiled.  
“Yeah, It's been so long I almost forgot what it felt like” Harry replied.  
“It's going to get…” Before Lucretia could complete her sentence Harry interrupted her.  
“I know Lucretia. I don't want a reminder.”

There was a comfortable silence where Harry just lied down on the sofa in the living room with his legs hanging off the sides and reading an old novel. Lucretia meanwhile was working on a potion Harry had no idea about. There was a nice sound of leaves rustling in the forest and a cool breeze that brushed him gently sometimes. Maybe the world was really just a simple and gentle place. It was just people like him that were cursed were never able to realize it... maybe. His reverie was broken with a sudden flash of a silver otter next to his head.  
“HARRY POTTER! YOU WILL COME DOWN TO THE HEADQUARTERS RIGHT NOW OR I WILL START SENDING OUT SEARCH PARTIES” Barked Hermione.

“Your friends are worried about you. It's nice.”  
“Yeah. I think I should be going too. It was nice to just lie around though.” Harry got up from the sofa. Harry was smiling with a full grin. “You know it requires happy thoughts to conjure a patronus right?” Harry said to Lucretia whose back was turned to him and working on distilling something. There was a silence and then both of them started laughing hysterically.

“She really is brilliant though” Harry said wiping a tear from under his glasses.  
“I bet she is” Lucretia smiled.  
“I’ve kept my end of the deal. A vial of my blood willingly given. In the drawer next to your bed” Lucretia nodded and kept her back to him. Harry did not want to disturb her further. Walked out of the kitchen then the house and into the forest. It was time to get back in the game.

In the Grimmauld place there was a humdrum of people buzzing around. There was a lot of anticipation among all the members. Some were sitting in the dining hall while others were mulling around to the irritation of Kreacher.  
“That is master Harry’s private study, Miss Tonkadora! You’re not allowed inside!” Kreacher berated Tonks pointing his wrinkled finger at him. Behind Tonks, Remus was snickering at Tonkadora which earned him a stinger on his backside.

“Ow! It was funny.” Remus quipped.  
“Not anymore” Tonks walked out the hallway of Harry’s study and towards the dining hall.  
“I’ll ask him to come over and meet Teddy someday. He’s been asking about Harry for quite sometime now.” Remus told Tonks as they were walking together.  
“Yeah sure, if we can even meet him nowadays then sure, tell him!” Remus thought Tonks was a bit angry maybe. Both of them reached the dining hall. 

Last one to arrive were Ron and Hermione. Everyone was expecting Harry but he hadn’t arrived yet. Ron sat on the chair next to Harry’s head chair and Hermione sat on Harry’s designated right chair. Both of them are pretty symbolic of what they meant to Harry. For the meeting Lupin, Tonks, Russ, Bill, Ginny, Neville, Hermione, Ron, Pushkin, Luna, George, Lavender and Rankin were present.  
“Lycoris, any word on Harry?” Ron asked the painting above Harry’s chair. 

“He’s running late Ronald, you can begin,” Lycoris shouted from a far away painting.  
“Has our innocent little Harry been corrupted by the feminine charms of some new Lady that we should know of?” George asked, earning him a few sniggers from the room.

Sensing gossip Lycoris jumped in the frame above Harry’s chair. 

“I wish it was the case dear Georgie, but he’s been more secretive than usual lately” Lycoris said sadly.  
“Ooooo so there is a possibility that our dear order leader has had a good shag today! Well done Harry!” George said to the amusement of the whole room.

“I don't think Harry is a shagger. I think he is a gentle lover” Luna said to nobody which stopped all the laughter and a few awkwards looks and a controlled smile from Hermione.  
“Enough about Harry and his shags people. Let's be mature now. Lets begin with the today's agenda” Ron opened his diary and went over it.  
“Bill, If you’d be kind to go over the event of the night from the beginning. We are all ears.” Ron said.

“Tonks’ team was the first responder so I’ll let her take the lead” Ron also agreed.  
Tonks regaled everyone about what happened that night. And then Bill supplied the information about him informing Harry and the backup team.

“From the sounds of it, it seems like a botched raid, “ Russ observed.  
“I also think the same thing, there was very little coordination among them. We were literally picking and choosing them” Bill surmised.

“I’d love to be on patrol everynight if snake-ass is sending such nice gifts every time,” Lavender said.

“They were not professionals but their numbers were big. We usually have good information about such big raids beforehand. We didn't have information about this big raiding party though.” Neville said.

“It's true, this one seems to have gone under our radar” Remus suggested.

“A three man team against this big raiding party seems like an intelligence failure. It doesn't align with Harry’s risk averse tactics these days” Ginny commented.

“Or maybe he really trusted the night’s patrol,” Rankin offered. It caused Remus and Tonks to smile. Ginny sighed in such a display which she considered childish. “I am sure Harry has the same confidence in all the teams he puts on patrol” Ginny replied back.

“I think we got the picture” Ron commanded the meeting back which was going tangentially.

“It's true we did not have intelligence for this raid or else the alert levels would have been higher, though the good news is we took out some snake sympathizers and none of us got killed.” 

Everyone in the room toasted to it. “Though Harry and I, we both think that we’ve got to train more in taking hostages, we can't always go through with wands blazing” Ron said looking at Lavender.

“Have you tried that spell Ron. It's cathartic to use on death eaters” Lavender said high-fiving Tonks. Ron was realizing why Harry hated these meetings. 

“Next on the agenda is something we’ve been waiting for a long time” but before Ron could complete his sentence The door to the dining Hall opened and walked in Harry to everyone’s surprise. Everyone was looking at him as if someone had polyjuiced Harry. 

“Told you he had a shag” Geroge said to Bill and both of them were smiling. Hermione was looking suspiciously at Harry. 

“Sorry for interrupting the meeting guys. I hope I’ve not missed a lot” Harry said standing behind his chair and still smiling. This was unnatural. Harry took off his overcoat and at the same moment Kreacher appeared and took it off Harry's hand.

“Does master Harry need anything else?” Kreacher asked Harry.

“Yes Kreacher. I am famished. Bring me a nice pork salami sandwich with some nice garnishing” Harry requested, while still standing. Kreacher looked at Harry a bit confused and then vanished. Harry pulled back his chair and sat down, still smiling! Everyone was looking slack jawed at their leader. Had he been replaced by someone who didn’t know how to impersonate Harry properly.

“What are you so happy about?” Hermione asked Harry suspiciously.  
“What are you talking about Hermione, don’t be silly. Let’s continue Ron where we left off” Harry said eyeing Ron. Ron was looking at Harry then looked towards Pushkin and asked him to start on, but was again interrupted by George.“Mate, we can pound the agenda later too. Harry you’ve to tell us who it is and how it was. Though we can guess the how quite easily” George said to the surprise of others.

“George that is really rude and you can't ask something so personal” Hermione berated George.

“Seriously, be a little mature George” Ginny snickered.

“I’ve got no problem Hermione. I’ll answer George’s questions so we can move on without any more interruptions.” Harry said to the slack jawed surprise on others faces.

“She comes from a very old family. No names. And she knows some techniques which have been passed down in their family down the generations from very early times. Needless to say I was the recipient of those pleasures yesterday night. The best night I’ve had in all the nights.” Harry finished. Everyone was dumbfounded to hear something like this from Harry who is usually reserved like a rock. Ginny and Hermione were red faced and Tonks was barely able to control his laugh, and everyone else was on the edge of collapse….

“Pork Salami sandwich for Master” Kreacher hammered through the silence which broke the Dam. Now everyone was laughing including Harry and Ron was laughing so hard he was about to fall from his chair when Harry pulled him back. After a good five minutes of laughter during which time Harry finished his meal. He reconvened the meeting. 

“Go on Pushkin, please introduce us to your new piece of amazing spellwork” Harry said to everyone’s anticipation.

Pushkin reached inside his pocket and took out a wooden box. Inside were two weird shaped metallic looking brown colored hoops with a transparent film over each hoop. Pushkin pushed the box to the middle of the table for everyone to observe.  
“What are we really looking at Harry?” Neville asked.

“You’re looking at one of the most advanced pieces of spellwork engineering. These are magical counterparts of muggle tech. These are ear pieces for long range communication. Muggle security forces use it for their missions to coordinate between themselves” Harry said which seemed like it didn't explain much.

“Here Neville take this and put it in your ear and go to the kitchen” Harry tossed one earpiece to Neville. He looked at it with suspicion but put it in his ear where it self adjusted itself perfectly. After putting it inside Pushkin went to Neville’s seat and kept his wand near his earlobe and spelled it. Neville got up and went to the kitchen closing the door behind him. Harry spelled his earlobe, After waiting a few seconds.

“Can you bring me a pint from the Kitchen Neville?” Harry said. Ginny was confused.

“Holy can of Pgmy puffs! This great Harry!” Neville said with his footsteps sounding closer.  
“Merlin’s Balls Harry, this is going to change everything! How long can we go!”

“Seven Km sq with N number of people!” Pushkin levelled the conversation back down.  
“Thanks to Pushkin and Hermione we have got this amazing feat. Also George has tempered it for battle readiness. Bill, Russ, Lav and Tonks have pretty much perfected the operating procedure for how the teams will be utilizing it. “Neville, your team will be having it on next night’s patrol” There was suddenly a new wave of excitement in the room regarding this new spellcraft.

After going over a new set of guidelines and some regular intel sharing Harry dismissed the meeting.

“That's pretty much all I had to say for now. You’re free to leave for the rest of the day” Harry announced.

Once everyone was gone and the only remaining occupants were Harry, Ron and Hermione.

“You gave us quite a scare with your patronus yesterday.” Hermione spoke up as soon as Harry spelled the doors closed with secrecy spells.

“I am sorry. That was not my intention. I was indeed busy with some important work and had to meet a contact” Harry deflected any other question before they could arise. His answers seemed to have placated Ron for now. Now was the time for the bombshell. “So what's the reason you’ve to call us out personally today?” Ron asked

Lycoris was all ears at this point and the tension in the room was high ,Ron could sense something was coming. 

“How do you guys like Berlin?” Harry said  
“It is a nice place Harry, but we seriously don't have time for another vacation.” Hermione wasn’t able to guess where this was going. 

“As you both know that there has been an influx of refugees from Wizarding Britain. A lot of people are getting caught due to shoddy papers, touts or sheer bad luck. I’ve worked with Ron to establish a pipeline to get as many people out right now.” 

“Ron has told me about his work on the refugee program, but how is it related to Berlin?” Hermione asked. “Yeah Harry, I already am aware of what you are explaining here”.  
Harry had delayed enough he had to rip the band-aid off now. He didn’t know what the outcome of this would be but he had to try.

“Berlin is the biggest transit point for refugees from Britain. We have quite a few sympathizers there. I want you Ron and Hermione too to take up the position in Berlin and help the Order in management of Refugees… wait... just let me complete. It is temporary until you set up the system there but if you like it you can be permanent there. I have your false identities ready.

“HAVE YOU , LOST YOUR MIND!” Hermione screamed. Harry was flummoxed. He had expected a strong reaction but she had a wand out. “I’ll hex you to your ancestors and back Harry, and you know I can do that if I want. You better think next time before spewing this load of dung” Hermione was not calming down.

“I’d say whatever you did yesterday has affected you mind mate. You want me to run some tests. I can call Pushkin” Ron said his words dripping with sarcasm.

“Is helping refugees beneath you Hermione, or you Ron? I had no idea that it would be such an offensive proposition. I thought you were all about upliftment of downtrodden Hermione” Harry was not going down without a fight.

“Don’t you dare use my ideologies against me Harry. You know this is not the reason and don’t insult my intelligence.”

“Are you telling me Hermione, Ron, that you will disobey a direct command from me” Harry was now sitting upright. 

“Absolutely, until you tell me what the real reason is. And none of that altruistic load of dung.” Ron just said in a relaxed fashion.

Harry sighed, and realized he should’ve gone with the truth to begin with. He remembered how deception worked out for him when Dumbledore kept things from him. “Okay, I’ll come clean with you” Harry relaxed back in his long backed chair but Ron and Hermione were now alert. “I know about you two.” Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry as if he had gone insane.

“What do you know? Have you gone mental!” Ron barked.

“I know you are pregnant Hermione” Harry said to the astonishment of both Hermione and Ron, who were both gazing at him in silence.

AN: I’ve been busy in other engagements for a while. A load of thanks for my beta reader https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pxreilly22 for picking up the my slack!

Please leave a review good or bad. As it motivates me to write more. Cheers!"


	5. Chapter 5

Far away from the humdrum of London, in a small Chruch town of Canterbury people were bidding farewell to their day and looking forward to a good sleep. This was a very old town. it was raided by Romans, Vikings and Wizards alike. In places as old as this there was a magical hue present in some relics if a wizard was to observe keenly. One such frail and nervous wizard was waiting in the ruins of Cantebury cathedral. It was not the chilled breeze from the sea that were causing the spasms of nervousness in him. It was rather the anticipation of meeting this particular person that was making him nervous. If this was going to be as planned then this would be the last time they would be meeting and he would flee Britain with his family never to be seen again. He was seemingly alone. This person was certainly not dressed for the cold weather but wizards usually don't need such amenities. He just wore an overcoat and a hat. Sitting alone on a decrepit bench inside the church ruins and looking at the sky through a hole in the roof , this person seemed to give an aura of resignation.   
"I never understood the stars... but they never give up on me." Russ entered the ruins of the church.  
"I didn't knew murderers could be poetic" The man spoke meekly but didn't sound surprised.   
"Me! a murderer. A snake has no right to call anyone a murderer." Russ exclaimed.   
"I am not a death eater and you and your boss know it" Said the man nervously. He had no idea how the order had information on his family possessions. Now that the secret was out, three parties knew about his heritage.   
"That tattoo on your wrist says something different, now let's not waste time. I am here to collect something of value" Russ said calmly . The small holes in walls and roof gave way to sudden gusts of wind which was causing both their over coats to flutter. Russ was sitting on a similar bench but behind the courier.  
"I was a kid and didn't knew any better. We were all kids, we had no idea what we were signing up to. How are you people different from Him if you raise the same threats against my family to coerce information. I am a nobody to Him." the man's voice was pleading.  
"Everyone was a kid then. But unfortunately a lot of you are still kids. Enough of dilly dallying. I don't want to use any curses today, please do as you're expected to and give me the parcel" Russ tried to placate him.  
"If I give you this , I am a dead man walking. My family will not be spared. You've to promise me no matter your qualms with me and my choices, you'll protect my family if something happens to me." The man said trying to show some resolve.  
"You're in no position to bargain Zabini, you know that right ?" Russ said as a matter of fact. Blaize was one of those unfortunate victims of the war who realized too late that they sided with a megalomaniac. "I know that but if you need what I am offering then that's the price or I'll burn down everything including this package. Give me your word that your boss will protect my family". Russ contemplated for a while and then offered his family shelter by the order.  
"I don't know how your people came to know about this but if this is what you need then better evaluate who is good and bad in this war" Blaize got up from his bench and turned around. Russ stiffened with his wand pointing at Blaize. Blaize came to a standstill in front of Russ and slowly put a hand in the pocket of his coat and with the same fluidity took out a wooden cube made of ebony and dropped it in Russ's palm. Russ put the cube in the inner pocket of his overcoat.   
"It's the wards , you can't disapparate until I leave." Russ said while getting up. Blaize smiled helplessly.  
"Remember, my family for this piece of heirloom." Blaize reminded Russ. Russ gave a nod and dissapparated with a pop. Blaize was left standing their alone with his head bowing down. He hated his state of finality, hated Voldemort and most of all he hated Potter. He could never in a million years imagine that meek bastard from Hogwarts was capable of such brutality to make his ends meet. He tried to dissapparate but was getting bounced back. It was weird. He walked towards the doorway to get out of range of the malfunctioning ward. The moment he stepped out of the doorway he knew something was afoot.  
"At least show me the courtesy of showing your face before you kill me" Blaize said with wand in one hand with his back to the broken cross on the desolate church wall.   
"You deserve nothing" Said a woman whose voice he vaguely remembered. There was a flash of green and a thunk of a mass hitting cold stone followed by a pop.   
Russ reached his home and knocked. Jane was still awake and opened the door. Russ knew she would never sleep if he was on a mission.  
"I am sorry I kept you awake dear. Is Harry asleep ?" Russ asked. Jane nodded and without saying much went up the stairs to get some sleep. Russ walked up to his dining table and pulled a chair to sit down. He took out his wand and summoned a bottle of firewhiskey and a tumbler. He poured himself some and took out the parcel and kept it on the table to examine it. It looked like an ordinary wooden cube to an untrained eye but Russ knew it was anything but. It was highly polished ebony wood that much was obvious. He raised his wand over the cube to cast a forensic spell to examine it more.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Dorf" Came voice from the portrait which was never welcome to Russ' ears but this was business.   
"Do you know what is this ? Someone put a lot on line to deliver this to us." Russ asked Lycoris.   
"I have the general idea, even if I fully knew what it was , you know it well that I can't disclose it to you." Lycoris said calmly. Russ acknowledged her response and put his wand away.  
"Put the package in the fireplace and floo the headquarters, you know the rest" Lycoris told Russ and walked away. Russ did as he was asked. A wrinkled hand grabbed the parcel and the flame died . He had exhausted his appetite for mystery today and was looking forwards to a warm bed.

Devon looked particularly beautiful in twilight. Harry was standing at a small hill and looking at the Burrow fondly which was quite far away from where he was. But he wasn't here to visit The Burrow today, he was in Devon to meet another family. Harry disapparated without a sound and reappeared on another grass covered hill and then started walking towards another dainty but cute and warm looking household which was situated on another higher hill but he had to walk till there.   
"Edward Lupin, you better come out of wherever you are hiding and finish your dinner." Tonks shouted.   
"She's using your full name son, you better come out now. It never bodes well for any of us when she does that." Remus said that to no one while reading a book on Warding Runes. Teddy popped his face from below the sofa on which his father was lounging. Remus flicked his wand and out came Teddy Lupin huffing and arms folded. He was floating in air as if an imaginary hand was holding him by his shirt, all the while his hair deep shade of red. Another flick of wand by his mom and he floated towards the dining table , still huffing. Teddy like his mom was a metamorphagus and had little control over the color of his hair. Teddy was slowly plopped down on the dining chair in front of his dinner. His grandma was sitting next to him. Andromeda was silently smiling seeing the antics of her young grandson.  
"Nanna I cannot wait to learn magic. I will eat jut pies for dinner, lunch and breakfast!" Teddy chimed.  
"Of course Teddy, it only makes sense." Andromeda sincerely agreed with her grandson's totally reasonable demands. She remembered that her daughter herself was no less notorious than her grandson maybe even more. Tonks was carrying a dangerously heavy pot of curry to the dining table which made everyone apprehensive. On putting the pot down safely on the table and conscious of everyone's feeling of apprehensiveness of her cooking she huffed loudly " It's not that bad! None of you haven't even tasted it yet".  
"I haven't said a word" Andromeda held her hands up. Tonks furrowed her brows comically "You've said enough". It made Remus smile behind his book.   
Lupin suddenly stood up with wand out and Tonks ran out of kitchen with her wand out. Lupin was going to summon their dragonhide armour when suddenly Tonks popped the question.  
"It's a friendly but someone is approaching. Was anyone visiting ? Bill and Fleur maybe. But they are coming this Friday." Tonks surmised. Remus just listened and was very much on alert. There was a gentle knock on the door. If the person was near the door, their probability of a friendly was now very high.   
"This is Harry James Potter, open up Remus" Came a gentle voice from behind the door and a blue hue emanated from the door. Tonks and Remus both lowered their wands and both were astonished since it was an unscheduled visit from Harry. Remus opened the door and saw Harry standing in jeans and an overcoat with both is hands behind. Harry crossed the threshold and shook Remus' hand and then Remus took him in an embrace which was heartily returned by Harry. Harry had thought of Remus as last remnant of his connection to his parents. As soon as Remus released Harry a storm hit his leg and clasped on it. Harry was delighted as he saw Teddy, his godson clinging to him and his hair turned black.  
"Thanks Harry! I just made him sit on the table to finish his dinner!" Tonks smiled looking at the both of them.  
"No problem Tonks , I am feeling a bit famished too, I'd love to have dinner with Teddy. Good evening Andromeda, sorry to intrude suddenly !" Harry apologized to Andromeda. Harry always seem to try to not to offend Andy more than his usual. She always gave an aura of strictness akin to that of Professor Mcgonagall. Tonks and Remus always found it amusing. also the fact that she was Bellatrix's sister, always made him feel awe in their contrasting personalities.   
"Get yourself inside child before you freeze yourself and stop apologizing. You're family." Andromeda told Harry. Lupin closed the heavy wooden door behind Harry. Harry took of his coat and hung it on the stand next to the door and then bent down and picked up his godson. It was always a delight to hold him in his arms.   
"You have grown a lot since the last time I met you and you've grown heavy too!" Harry inspired his Godson.  
"I am now 5 years and 4 months old. But Mom still doesn't let me have my own broom!" Teddy complained . Harry smiled at Teddy's nitpicking and carried him in his arms and plopped him on the dining chair again.  
"I haven't heard of a tragedy of greater proportions. I'll talk to your mom and dad tonight!" Harry said in all seriousness and sat in front of Teddy and Andy at the table.  
"Thanks Harry, they'll listen to you." Teddy seemed to be placated for now. But the excitement of having his godfather with him was hard to drown. Tonks seemed to have given up on the idea of early bedtime for Teddy today too. Adjacent to the dining room was a the attached living room where Remus was just tidying up. Harry always thought that this cozy home of theirs always personified Remus and Tonks' relationship. After Tonks had finished up her work in the kitchen and Remus had tidied up the living room , everyone sat down at the table for dinner.   
"Sorry Harry, you caught us in a middle of chaos, now tell us. Anything serious ?" Tonks asked who was sitting next to Remus.   
"Nothing that can't be discussed after the dinner" Harry said casually. Tonks and Remus looked at each other and shrugged and resumed with their meals. Teddy seemed to just play with his food more.   
"Dora tells me that you're living alone in the Grimmauld Place." Andy asked Harry , he looked up from his remaining loaf of bread and saw Tonks smiling.   
"Mmm..ah .. yeah. I am living by myself currently." Harry hesitated and was dreading the follow up.  
"It's not the most pleasant place to spend your life there Harry. I've lived there long enough to make sure I never go back there. Sirius never liked it there either." Andy remarked.  
"It's not as bad. I find it actually quite comfortable and very functional." Harry answered .  
"Of course Harry, this is what that house was build for. It was never meant for a quaint family life. There is a reason that house is located so near to the two centres of government." Andy remarked but it did not elicit a response from Harry. Andromeda was a scholar of History and it always bode well for Harry to listen than speak.  
"I suggest when the war is over, look for a house where you can live rather wage wars." Andromeda finished her desert as she spoke.  
"I'll keep that in mind Andy" Harry spoke to her. Sensing the atmosphere was trudging towards melancholy, Tonks got up to collect the plates from everyone.   
"I'll take the plate if you're done Harry. There is a nice bottle of wine in the cabinet Remus, can you take that out!" Tonks took away Harry's plate as Harry slowly got up.  
"No wine for me Remus, I'll put a Kettle on. I fancy a tea after the meal" Harry got up and moved into the kitchen along with Remus leaving Andy and Teddy at the table.   
Harry put the kettle on and Remus took out a bottle of wine from the cabinet above Harry and uncorked it. Tonks put the dishes in the sink and took out two wine glasses.  
"Let's go to the living room. Mom will put Teddy to sleep." Tonks said as she went out of the kitchen followed by Remus and Harry.   
"Say goodnight to Harry" Andy said to Teddy.   
"Good night Harry, and ask mom and dad to get me a broom!" Teddy asked Harry in the most childlike voice.   
"I'll ask your mom and dad to get you the latest broom, and if they don't then you know I'll get it for you , right?!" Harry smirked.  
"Thanks Harry! Good night" Teddy said excitedly. After bidding good night to Andy and Teddy.

The moment Harry sat down on the sofa in front of Remus and Tonks,   
"You're not buying him a Broom Harry!" Both of them said in unison.  
"Wow!" Harry held his cup of Tea with both his hands , soaking its warmth. Harry was delighted to see both of them on the same frequency. It was one of the reason why the combo of Remus and Tonks was so deadly in the battle.   
"As much as we love having you here Harry, I am sensing it was not a social call" Remus asked Harry with a wine glass in one hand and legs crossed. Tonks also straightened up but relatively relaxed next to Remus.   
"As always , and guessing by your demeanour too Tonks, you're both right. There has been some development and I've decided some changes have to be made in the Order." Harry took a sip of tea and kept the cup on centre table.  
"Is everyone alright? Is someone hurt?" Tonks enquired hastily.  
"Everyone is fine Tonks. No need for alarm. Hmmmmm... I guess there is no other way to break it" Harry again picked up the cup of tea and took a sip of tea causing Tonks and Remus to be more anxious that they already were.  
"I've decided to move Ron and Hermione to Berlin to oversee the refugee program and also to concoct support from the Prussian govt for our effort at home.....wait.. Let me finish" Harry kept his cup back on the table.   
"I want you Tonks to take Ron's place in the Order for now. You'll report to me only and will co chair in case of my absence." Harry finished and picked up his cup again and took a long sip. Tonks and Remus were listening slack jawed. Both of them were dumbfounded at what Harry was saying. Harry, Ron and Hermione were a trinity in the wizarding world now. They were thought of as inseparable. It was hard to imagine Harry without Hermione and Ron guarding their best friend.  
After a long debilitating discussion over how this situation had come to head. Harry came clean to Tonks and Remus. Harry didn't want to be the next Dumbledore, far from it. He just wanted his friends happy at this point. He offered the same deal to the couple before him.   
"I am sure you will have questions and unfortunately I can answer only the ones I have answer to. This news will hit hard in the Order." Harry finished up his tea and kept the cup back on the table.   
"As both of you know , from our previous experience. Things are going to get worse before it gets better. It's going to get more bloody" Harry spoke to both is friends directly looking them in the eye.  
"Will you stop going in circles Harry and come to the point" Tonks said irritatingly.  
"Right, I want you to think about it Tonks. Both you and Remus before you answer me. You'll be putting a lot on the line when it comes to be known where your standing is in the Order. You and your family will be more of a target than before." Harry surmised.  
There was dead silence in the living room and the glass of wine seemed as full as they were before. Harry took the cue and thought it was better to give them some space after dropping an anvil as big as this. After observing the niceties and picking up his coat from the stand. Harry pulled open the door to gusts of cold wind and stepped out closing the door behind him. Teddy was still awake in his bedroom on the floor above and he saw Harry closing the door and becoming one with the darkness as he walked away till there was nothing to see anymore. Next to Teddy Andromeda Tonks nee Black was also looking at the same sight. It was the first time in the known history that there was a Black Lord who was not a direct descendent . Maybe this would break the curse of madness on the Black lineage. She could sense the chaotic energy from Harry which is unwillingly bequeathed to the lord of Grimmauld place and it never bode well for that person.  
Harry reached back to the Grimmauld place and after taking a cold shower he sat down in the dining room at the head of the table.   
"Kreacher , bring me a pint" Harry shouted in emptiness. Kreacher appeared with a chilled brew of muggle beer and placed it upon a coaster on the table and kept fiddling with it until the bottle was perfectly in the middle of the coaster. Once Kreacher was satisfied he vanished.   
"I can see he's going mental." came a scathing voice from a frame above Harry.  
"No more than the rest of your ancestry Lycoris" Harrry remarked candidly.  
"Russeldorf delivered the package you expected, I've held it up in your containment room for dark artifacts as you asked" Lycoris informed Harry.  
"Hmmmm..did it go according to the plan or was there any deviation ?" Harry asked Lycoris.  
"It went as expected. The trade off went smoothly Harry" Lycoris said hesitatingly.  
"And did she take the bait ?" Harry asked Lycoris  
"Had it not been the situation we are in currently I'd have judged you more harshly. Yes she took the bait. After Russ was gone it played out just as you predicted" Lycoris said in a low voice.  
"Mind your place Lycoris, you never were nor currently in a position to judge his actions. I'd say he is acting like a Slytherin should in times like these. That's high praise from me Harry" Came a cunning voice of Phineas.   
"Getting judged and complimented by portraits." Harry mumbled.  
Harry smiled and took out a pack of fags from his pocket. It had been a draining few days but things were aligning as he had thought. He picked up a lighter from the table and lit up the fag. A lot of water had condensed on the sides of the beer bottle and was accumulating on the coaster. Harry picked up the bottle and then took a deep drag.   
Harry sat there alone in the huge dining room seemingly doing nothing but drinking a pint of beer and smoking a fag. He had deliberately leaked the information about Cantebury trade off to one and only Ginny Weasley. He had counted on Ginny's hot blooded Gryffindor nature to take the predictable course of action. Blaize had become a dead man walking the moment it became clear to Blaize that he had to trade this particular artefact with the Order to save his family. Harry had to prevent Voldemort from knowing the truth about this artefact as long as he could and only a dead man can spill no secrets. Blaize had run out of time unfortunately in the scheme of Harry's plan.

Harry had known for a long time that Blaize Zabini was instrumental in kidnapping , torture and murder of Arthur Weasly. But Harry hadn't seen any incentive of releasing this information till now. When the time was right Harry knew the exact person who would "accidentaly" come across this piece of information and would take Zabini out of the picture.

Lycoris would later tell account of a very different Harry Potter than the one people remember from Hogwarts, but it would be a long time again when Lycoris will be unearthed.   
Harry was sitting alone with his head bent down and his fag all burnt out and a quarter of beer still remaining. He got up from his chair suddenly.   
"Did Russ try to open it ?" Harry asked Lycoris  
"He was a little inquisitive, but I was there before anything happened" Lycoris answered , Harry nodded.  
"I guess it's time to meet our guest then. I think we can commence the next phase of operations" Harry told Lycoris. Harry started walking towards his training room in the basement.   
In the corner of his training room there was a stone trapdoor on the floor. Harry manually raised the trapdoor and climbed down the metallic ladder down into the dungeon. He landed in a dungeon where there were cells barred by metallic grills on either side of the hallway. There were sounds of despair and moaning coming from the end of the hallway.  
Harry walked to the end of the hallway and faced the cell on his right. It gave him no pleasure looking at the state of this man sitting balled up in rags behind metal bars.

"Hello Cornelius......"

PS. Sorry for the short chapter but it was necessary to put some pieces in play before I go fwd. I know some people might have questions about the conversation between the trio where the last chapter finished. Just be more patient with me, It will be played out very soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Grimmauld place was humming with activity on this particular evening, much to the irritation of Kreacher who basking in sarcasm and taunting every member over every little intrusion. Suddenly a heavy voice of Lycoris invited everyone to the dining hall for the meeting to begin. The core members of the order after taking their position noticed that besides the usual tardiness of Harry the seats of Harry's Lieutenants were empty too. The grapevines were rampant among the Order as they would within any other organization. Each one had developed a story in their minds around their own opinions. Once everyone was seated, walked in the rest of the command structure. Harry came down in his usual plaid shirt and jeans with his empty wand holster tagged to his wrist, followed by Hermione , Ron, Tonks and Bill. What made people whisper even more was when Ron and Hermione sat next to Remus followed by Tonks taking the position on Harry's right and Bill to his left. Lycoris had every reason to be excited over this development , after all gossip is what she lived for but she displayed nothing but a serious expression.   
Harry waited for the humdrum to die down , which it did as soon Harry sat down.   
"Before we move ahead with the proceedings of the Order, I've to appraise all of you about the two new developments in the Order. As you all know we've been slowly but surely making inroads in helping the refugees out of the Wizarding Britain and we've developed a really good pipeline for that. But it has had some positive unintended consequences too. We've been getting offers by able men and women in Europe to help us in our effort. Not only that, to add friction between Voldemort and his dealing in the international consortium we need a chapter of Order dedicated to that. " Harry said as he looked around and saw everyone soaking in everything he was saying.   
"Right now we have a few like minded free agents who are working to discredit Voldemort's coup on the international stage but we need to add more organization to that." Harry said and took a pause to look and Ron and Hermione.   
"Ron and Hermione are transitioning to take the helm of those efforts in Berlin" The moment Harry uttered those words it was chaos. Everyone was simultaneously asking and throwing opinions.   
"Are you serious, Harry ? Such a major transition at this stage in our efforts." Russ asked.  
"I mean we trust your decision Harry but you can't deny it's a shock to all of us" Neville said .  
Harry was listening in silence as everyone was voicing their opinion while Tonks and Bill were silently watching.   
"Look! I can imagine it must come as a big surprise to everyone, but this was not a one sided decision if anyone has any theories in their mind" Ron stepped in to bring the queries to the halt.  
"It was a mutual decision between us that this the correct course of action to take. We need more manpower, funds and support to raise an all out assault. And these ingredients can't be collected in isolation. It was a long discussion and we have a plan in place but it is what needs to be done." Hermione supplied the justification.  
"Also there is one more good news, we are pregnant and expecting." Ron half blushed excited announced to the meeting much to the joyous uproar of everyone.   
Lavender and Ginny wished them good health , Fleur and Tonks were congratulating Hermione. Neville , Bill and Remus were patting Ron and teasing him about becoming a dad. Harry was sitting and observing the niceties and let it go till it died down on its own.   
"As all our celebrations are usually followed by life threatening missions, lets honour that tradition" Bill continued.  
Harry had his ears to the ministry and had tasked Bill and Tonks to draw up two assault teams for the upcoming missions. Both had to be done at the same day for the shock affect.   
"We have two major milestone missions coming up. Both missions will take place simultaneously so we will be stretched thin. We are going to ambush and free Minerva McGonagall from the Ministry holding cell and kill Lucius Malfoy." Harry spoke casually.  
Ronald whistled breaking the enamoured silence that was raging in the dining room.   
"These are both really high risk missions we'd need as much support as we can get on each of these assaults, let alone splitting the teams" Lavender said much to the agreement of Russ.  
"Are you sure they will be transferring Minerva from Holding cell in Ministry to Azkaban" Neville asked Harry.  
"I am sure" Harry nodded solemnly.  
"The kind of security that Lucius is carrying around is no joke, he is Volemort's right hand man Harry. Even if we succeed there will be blowback." Remus questioned Harry.  
"I forgot to tell you guys one detail. The attack on Lucius will be on an initiation ceremony" Harry said.  
"Merlin's pants Harry you know what you are saying right , you want us to attack an initiation ceremony where apart from Lucius, most probably other Silver masks would be there" Neville exclaimed.  
"This is too precious information Harry, you mind telling us the source" Hermione asked Harry with her eyebrows raised.  
"I can't reveal my source but information is crisp." Harry told Hermione.  
"Look I know the kind of risk we are taking here. I am also aware of the fatigue that tethers at us. Let me assure you it may not look that this war is not going to end but Lord Snake arse has no idea what will hit him when the time comes." Harry said to everyone. The sentiment bought smiles to Order members. Some were more pronounced than the others.  
Bill and Tonks announced the team division at the meeting. Tonks would be rescuing Minerva. She would be accompanied with Remus, Rankin, Russ and Ginny.  
Bill would be on the initiation ceremony along with Lavender, Luna, Neville, George. Harry would be monitoring both the missions simultaneously.   
"Hmmm, I'd have to modify the medical portkeys for this mission. Also I'd need one more Healer in the medical bay Harry if we are going for this." Pushkin evaluated.   
"Some of my less than respectable business partners have lent us a Healer and some Hit wizards if need be for backup. They would be on call" Harry told Pushkin which sufficed.  
Harry's "alternate" investment bankers were able to put him in touch with such services of the unsavoury world.   
Once the meeting was done and the plans were rolled out Harry concluded the meeting.   
"For security purposes I'll be sharing the date of attacks a day before the actual date. So for this week be prepared." Harry concluded.  
Once the meeting was over Harry was sitting with just Bill and Tonks, going over the plans once more to iron out as much uncertainty as possible. Once he was satisfied Bill rose up from his seat and took his leave. Which left Tonks and Harry alone in the room.  
"It's late Harry, I think I'll go too." Tonks said.  
"I've got something else I want to discuss . Please bear with me for just a few more minutes." Harry said casually looking at Tonks. It got her intrigued a bit as Harry was very reserved nowadays and gone was that little shy and gentle bloke.   
"How is Remus doing these days ? Are the full moons still as agonizing or has there been an improvement ?" Harry asked.   
Tonks stiffened a bit but she knew that Harry would've known something otherwise he wouldn't have asked the question.  
"It's getting tough. Wolfsbane potion has been made illegal and even its ingredients have been controlled. I...It gets tiring somedays Harry" Tonks said softly.  
"Even if it's available , it's too damn expensive. And ...and you know Remus can't work due to the "Dark Creatures Act" they passed recently" Tonks said looking down. Harry was listening intently, he was aware of most of the struggles.  
"Kreacher!, bring be the file and the wooden box marked with my insignia on my table." Harry summoned and ordered Kreacher. Tonks was a bit baffled as to what was going on. And before she could guess what was happening Kreacher was back with a big brown envelope under his arms. and carrying a polished wooden box with both his hands extended towards Harry.  
Harry took both objects from Kreacher and kept them on the table.   
"What's all this Harry ?" Tonks asked.  
"Open the box and take a look" Harry told Tonks.  
Tonks clicked open the box . She kept looking in awe and then got up and hugged Harry. The box was bigger than it looked on the outside, it contained copious number of bottles containing Wolfsbane potion.   
"I dont know how I can repay you Harry, its ....Merlins Pants Its going to be so calming for Remus. I can never repay you for this Harry." Tonks thanked Harry.  
"You'll know someone has polyjuiced me If I am foolish enough to ask you repay me." Harry Laughed.  
"And what's in the envelope Harry" Tonks asked.  
"It contains the papers Remus would need to gain employment in the muggle world. You'll have to take this docket to Hermione and she'll inform Remus on how to proceed. We have a good number of people under confundus charm in muggle channels." Harry smirked.  
Tonks welled up and hugged Harry again and Harry as usual never knew what to do in these kind of situations.  
"You've......mmm Thanks Harry, thanks a lot." Tonks told Harry.   
When Tonks left, Harry was left alone sitting alone at the large table in contemplation.   
"It was a really nice gesture Harry. I'd say all your predecessors would be proud of the way you handle your command" Lycoris chimed from the potrait above Harry.  
"It's nothing compared to what I ask of them " Harry sighed  
Harry just got up and left the room. 

Ministry was apparently empty this late in the evening and only a few menial workers seem to be running out hurriedly this late. Nothing could be far from the truth though. In the lower levels of the ministry in courtroom number 77 was a trial in session. In the courtroom, in a metallic high backed chair was sitting a frail looking old woman. It seemed that her dietary needs were the least of the priority where she was kept. Her hair were dirty and unkept, her clothes were stained and stinking on pungent ammonia. Though she seemed physically battered there was fire in her eyes and her back straight. The Dementor floating in her proximity to keep her dull was doing its job only. The members of the court were abashed looking at their old professor and former Hogwarts headmistress. Some had their heads bowed in shame and other were gleefully awaiting judgement. There was an auror standing near the first bench of the jury members who had his Patronus roaming around to keep the Dementor's chill at bay from the jury members.   
"Members of the Jury , after the trial of this Mudblood sympathiser. We have come to the following sentencing" Said a the head juror of the court.  
"Minerva McGonagall has been charged with counts of treason against Wizarding Britain, colluding with Terrorist organization known as the Order of the Phoenix, proven sympathiser of Undesirable number one Harry James Potter. She has been sentenced to three life sentences in Azkaban" Said Amycus Carrow, with apparent glee.  
"This kangaroo court doesn't has the power to judge the dust I leave in my sneeze let alone the Headmistress of Hogwarts." Minerva said in all her poise she could aggregate, for she knew nothing else would dignify the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts.  
"You are no Headmistress Minerva, you're nothing more than a petty criminal now. Aurors!take her away and lock this banshee in Azkaban." Amycus Carrow pronounced. The shackles released from Minerva's ankles and wrists. The two Aurors raised Minerva by her shoulders from the chair much to her resistance. Minerva caught a glimpse of Cornelius Fudge whispering something in Carrow's ear before she was pulled ahead out of the courtroom. Minerva was barely able to walk and was carried by her captives. When she was out of sight from the courtroom, the Dementor was still following them . Both of the guards with Minerva between them were waiting for the elevator to arrive. The moment elevator arrived all three of them got into the empty elevator leaving behind the Dementor. All of them were going up to the lobby in silence and suddenly an ear splitting alarm was raised in the whole ministry.   
"Holy Helga Huffelpuff, it took more time than I anticipated!" Said one of the Aurors holding Minerva by her left shoulder. The auror on the right looked astonished and wide eyed at his partner and was going to draw his wand but a strong confundus charm hit him.  
"Too slow, the standards have really gone down." Tonks said , Minerva was looking dumbfounded as to what was happening.   
"Who are you ? Did you lord send you to kill me, you cowards!!?" Minerva shouted.   
"Harry sends his regards Professor, the Order is here to take you off Ministry's hands" Tonks smiled and transformed to her normal form. Minerva McGonagall still could not believe this was happening but she took it in stride and smiled.

"Potter is here ? Why is he even in this country anymore ?" Minerva asked Tonks surprised.  
"Wow , you really have no idea about what is going on." Tonks said as she spelled her Dragonhide armour on her chest.  
Tonks took out a vial of Rejuvenation potion and handed it to Minerva. The old professor didn't need to be told what was to be done. She gulped down the whole vial and soon experienced a rush of warmth and energy she hadn't felt in lifetimes it seemed.   
"I don't think a guard of honour would be waiting for us when the elevator door opens. Here professor, this wand should fit you." Tonks told Minerva. Minerva took the wand in her right hand and jerked it , to her surprise it was a perfect fit.  
"I am impressed. And yes I agree we would definitely not be greeted by guard of honour." Minerva smiled and took position.   
"I have the "Baby" Remus, what should we look out for. We are coming up." Tonks said to her earpiece barely stifling her laughter. Minerva looked abashed when she realized she was the "Baby".  
"They found McClintok's body at his home, our cover is blown. We are holding fire and Russ is covering your elevator entrance from the right." Remus replied  
"Ready professor!" Tonks said looking at Minerva, "This isnt my first war Miss Nymphadora" Minerva replied.  
The moment elevator door opened up, Tonks and Minerva saw a bright lightning coming from their right and seemed to have cause a blast somewhere to their lobby.  
It was pandemonium out there. Tonks for a second thought if they had underestimated Ministry's response but it was time to act no matter what. The moment they stepped out the elevator Russ was giving them covering fire.  
"The babysitter and the baby are here" Russ said in his earpiece." Russ was holding and providing cover fire alone till now. But was now joined by Tonks and one of the best transfiguration masters in Britain. Tonks and Russ formed a triangle with Minerva on their backs. Tonks' wand was alight with colors dark and darker , she was relentlessly throwing blood curdling and bone breaker curses at the aurors in front of her. They had to create more pressure so they could come out of the elevator hallway and not the lobby to gain more manuverability. Russ was holding a blast shield and protecting Tonks and Minerva who was still getting to terms with what was going on. In the Lobby Remus, Ginny and Rankin were in hiding positions and picking off freshly arriving aurors from the Floo by dismembering them or with body binds. The trio had accumulated a lot of bodies until someone used their brains and blocked the lobby floo networks.  
"The baby is out , let's move. Russ , release the blast shield , we'll provide cover." Remus said to Ginny and Rankin. Russ on hearing the instructions released the blast shield immediately. The moment the blast shield disconnected from Russ wand it travelled at transonic speed destroying everything in its path until it collided with a stone column in the lobby almost taking it out. All the aurors had retreated out of the Elevator hallway to escape the demolition wave. Taking the momentary advantage the trio ran out of the hallway and reached the lobby where the Aurors were firing at Remus, Rankin and Ginny. The moment both teams connected visually, they knew the drill. The five member team effortlessly formed the Vic formation with Minerva inside the formation and was ready to take charge of the situation. Disapparation was out of the question from the ministry.  
Someone in the aurors had realized that they could open the floo network again which caused the ratio to overwhelmingly bend the odds against the Order. Now they were around five order members against forty to fifty Aurors and more on the way. Tonks had now moved on to Crater Curses to take out chunks of the Aurors at the same time, Russ was alternating between bonebreakers and shields on the other arm of the V, Ginny and rankin were guarding Russ and Tonks respectively and sniping anyone who might take aim at their flanks. Meanwhile Remus was defending the back of the V by himself. Minerva McGonagall was astonished at what she was seeing. These were not her students anymore , these were soldiers in a foxhole. Tonks could see the entrance to the ministry but it seemed so far now. Around fifty Aurors were now slowly encircling the Order formation. Tonks , Russ ,Rankin and Ginny were slowly going on hundred percent defensive with mounting attacks on them.  
"Dont let them escape. We have to capture them at all costs. I have orders, dont let the prisoner walk away at any cost. Kill them all if needed."Said one of the deputy of The Aurors. Tonks was sure it would take more than a miracle to bring them on the offensive. She knew her last resort was to form the connected shield which Harry had taught them. But connected shield was the last resort. It was next to impossible to go back to offensive after raising the connected shield.   
"Remus, I'll take your place and I want you to snipe around four aurors. Ginny listen, when Remus takes his shot summon the dead body to the formation." Minerva barked the order. Remus looked confused but didn't dare contradict her. Remus and Minerva did a fast swap and Minerva raised her distinct purple coloured repellant shield and then ripped out cloth from the end of her skirt and transformed it into a thin physical wall in front of her repellant shield. Remus took point and everyone made sure Remus was protected by going as much offensive as they could. Rankin was taking fire as was Ginny. Rankin was toggling between stingers and flash shields to keep up the attack. Flash shields were magic infused dense shied for a short moment of time. Ginny was on full offensive with dark hexes flowing from her wand. They were able to hold the position but were pinned down as well. Remus started sniping Aurors one by one. By the time Remus was done Ginny has summoned four bodies.   
"Professor we have four bodies , what do you want us to do." Ginny shouted while firing curses and summoning bodies with her other hand wandlessly. Tonks was holding the front of the formation along with Russ. Russ was firing curses and bolts of dark fire which was keeping a large number of aurors occupied.   
"Remus swap with me " Minerva shouted. Once the swap was done. Minerva was again in the middle of the formation. She pointed her wand at the pile of dead Aurors and chanted an incantation. Once the incantation was complete, Minerva released the spell on the pile. Suddenly each body of the Auror morphed into curved concrete blocks and started levetating. Once more Minerva pointed her wand at the curved concrete blocks and then released another spell. It made the blocks arrange themselves around the Order formation and they would float in middle of the Order member and the attacking curse once the curse was in a given proximity. Suddenly The Order had more breathing space now that they had sentient blocks of stone protecting them. It allowed Tonks to go on offensive which suited her more. The Aurors after seeing their own dead comrades transformed into concrete shields were horrified. Russ was now just protecting Tonks while she was alternating between bone breakers and cursed fire. Minerva thought she could help more but the Rejuvnation potion was wearing off. She felt so helpless that she couldn't do more for her students but years locked up with her personal Dementor had taken a toll on her.   
Tonks was grateful for the sentient protection but it was wearing off. Also she and her team were in the middle of lobby of Ministry of Magic. She wanted to move to a more defensive position but they were encircled. Tonks noticed an ambiguity suddenly.  
"Russ, do you see what I am seeing." Tonks barked.  
"Yeah, I think operation Ponytail is in motion and its going well too it seems." Russ smiled.   
Tonks and Russ had noticed that a some aurors were flooing away. So this was why Harry wanted to attack simultaneously, that clever bastard. He wanted to split the Auror forces. But there was a flaw in the plan. It seemed not a lot of Aurors were keen to join the Snakes. Suddenly a curse that escaped Lupin and hit Rankin squarely in his back and he went down gurgling blood.   
"Ranks! Minerva cover his flank. Ginny turn on his medical portkey. He can transport the moment we make it out." Tonks barked. Ginny panicked but did as she was told.   
"He is alive but his pulse is weak, he needs a healer right now" Ginny said. Minerva was on her last legs too. He shields were weak and were barely able to keep up with the attack.   
The deputy Auror asked his men to form a connected shield and ordered his men to stop the offensive. Suddenly a golden connected shield powered by each Aurors wand was erected. The Order was now covered on all sides in a circle by the Aurors. Tonks knew it was a powerful shield by the brightness it was emanating.  
"I am talking to the leader of our outfit. If you want to live then surrender your wands and the prisoner of Wizarding Britain. If you don't then you will all die gruesome deaths." The deputy Auror in command shouted from behind his men. Tonks was well aware of the situation. She had a frail Minerva, an almost dying teammate, and not yet dead Order members.   
"Ground Floor" chimed a soothing female voice from the elevator breaking the dramatic silence like a sword breaking glass.  
The deputy Auror suddenly turned around as the elevator door opened, the moment a foot came out of the elevator the auror fired a curse and it was bounce back by the wand so fast that it made no sense.   
"Guresome deaths you say, mmmmm, I just served some of that in the courtroom below" Said a voice which sent a warmth of relief within every order member, but when they saw the face attached to the voice they couldnt believe what they were seeing. Minerva McGonagal would have fainted had her life not depended on it. This couldnt be the same boy she taught . This couldnt be the same boy who passed through the halls of Hogwarts. Out of the elevator came Harry with his trademark Overcoat and wand swinging in his right hand but his face and hair were covered in blood and there were splatters of blood on his shirt. His dragonshide boots left imprints of blood as he walked past. Harry calmly walked towards the Deputy Auror who was trembling in Horror. The deputy was pointing the wand at Harry's chest but was unable to spell anything. A few random spells came flying towards Harry but he swatted them away effortlessly.   
Everyone in the Order was just as horrified. They knew Harry was a hardened fighter but what had he done just now they couldn't comprehend. The deputy didn't even see the spell coming and was dead within a blink. The next in command auror ordered to release the shield and kill the order members. The moment it was ordered , the Order had formed there own connected shield.   
"Everyone , be ready to release the connected shield at any moments notice. You will know it when you see it. Levitate Rankin and run out the moment you drop the connected shield" Harry called into everyone's earpiece.   
"Got it Harry."  
Harry broke the auror formation from behind so brutally that there were limbs of aurors flying in the air the moment he cast a Demonic Hellspray. It was one of those dark curses which were so hard to master and even more destructive. It was never to be fired on an inferior target as it would be too disrespectful to magic itself and would in turn kill the caster of the spell. One cast of Demonic Hellspray broke the circular formation of Aurors with their bodies exploding and burning with parasitic fires. Around ten aurors were dismembered within a second to the horror of Aurors and Order alike . Minerva Mcgonagall couldn't believe that Harry could ever be capable of such brutality.   
"Now Tonks." Harry sent the Order. The Order dropped to the connected shield and made a run for the Exit . They were expecting to get hit by spells in their back but none came. When the Order made run for the exit , Harry ran to centre and threw some cards in the air which expanded themselves and formed a connected levitating shield which was blocking any spell directed towards the exit. He was capable enough to hold on his own. The moment Tonks and her team were out of the Ministry exit the medical portkeys started activating themselves which vanished Rankin and then surprised Minerva.   
"I'll go too, to check up on Ranks" Ginny said. Tonks nodded.   
"Potter you can't escape us. We've got you sorrounded. No matter your fancy skill, your still outnumbered." Said one of the Aurors.   
"He's not, Last I checked he took out ten of you in a second, and we can send the rest of your remaining blighted bodies into the churn." Tonks said. Tonks, Russ, and Remus were standing behind Harry and their wands loaded with death.  
"Take down the wards Captain and you'll see your wife and child one last time." Harry said with his wand pointing down but the Captain could see that Harry had his Demonic Spray locked and ready to engage. His men could not survive this bout. Harry felt surge in his magic and could feel the anti apparition wards come down.  
"Smart man captain. Tonks , apparate with your team to the entrance and run interference if they try to raise the ward again" Harry instructed. Tonks nodded to Remus and he disapparated to the entrance and did as instructed.   
"Wait for me , I'll be there shortly" Harry instructed Tonks . She understood and disapparated with Russ in tow.  
"Now I couldn't help but notice, you took out one my men. I am not a vengeful person but I like to keep the scales balanced." Harry smiled and fired Demonic Hellspray to a loud bang. Screams of dismembered men , some of whose bodies were still burning were running around trying to stop themselves from turning to ash.  
Harry stood there still for a second and watched the horror unfold. He could see some spells hurling towards him in slow-motion and he kept waiting for them to get even closer, as if he was waiting for the rush he got from his nears escapes. Suddenly he picked himself off his dopamine hit and disapparated.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftm1hiXgYsA background)

There was a mass of people and reporters gathering at the Ministry's entrance to see what was happening. Tonks , Russ and Remus had put on glamour and holding off people from going inside. Suddenly to everyone's horror they stopped pushing against their shields and Tonks looked back. It was Harry, he had popped from inside the ministry to the ministry entrance covered in blood and barely recognizable. There was silence all around seeing the man in black overcoat, long black hair, dragonhaide boots and armour with his wand pointing down. And then there was a flurry of flashed and barrage of questions.  
"Are you really Harry Potter ?"  
"People are saying you've turned into a dark lord, is there any truth to it Harry ?"  
"What happened inside ?"  
"Why did you attack the ministry ?"  
"Should we leave Boss, it's getting crowded." Tonks asked Harry.   
"Yes, after I take care of one more thing." Harry smiled and slowly raised his wand towards the sky.  
"Flammax!", A whistling spell shot out into the sky and transformed into a golden and red Phoenix floating above the ministry much to the cheering of a lot of crowd. Harry nodded smiling to Tonks and disapparated leaving behind what would be called the Ministry Massacre.


	7. Chapter 7

Minerva McGonagall tried to regain her sense as fast as she could. After the moment she was dropped by the portkey she realised she was inside a warehouse and there was a lot going on. The warehouse was mostly empty and had a false ceiling. There was a small Healer station with essential potions on either lengths of the warehouse. In a glance she could see there were bodies laid down on the bare floor. In front of her was the wheezing and coughing body of Rankin on the floor. A man came running next to her in healer's clothing.

"Professor would you please excuse me , this one needs emergency procedures" said the man in Healers robe. There was another younger looking Healer working on someone who seemed a bit familiar. 

"Do you know the curse he was hit with or the class it appeared to be in ?" the Healer working on Rankin's body asked her. She tried to remember but the curse seemed to have latched on the boy's body and purging the life out of it. Minerva tried to explain it to Pushkin but was taken aback by another familiar voice.

"He was hit with prolonged blood boiler modified by the Unspeakables" Ginny answered the moment she landed from her portkey.

"Professor , please take these potions and empty them, we might need you still" Ginny said to the elderly professor. Minerva didn't need to ask any more questions. The tension and electric environment told her that whatever was going on was not over yet. The old Healer was running diagnostic spells on Rankin's body and shoving potions down his throat. She saw there were some lifeless bodies on the floor with Balaclavas on their head in the same row . She was looking at those faceless bodies of men in balaclavas and was trying to make sense of what would be going on here. Before she could pose those questions to anyone around she saw Ginny Weasley run past her to the other end of the warehouse where there was a someone writhing in pain.

"Godric! Bill are you alright ?" Ginny crouched down and asked the person lying in pain. Was this really Bill Weasley Minerva thought. Her memories were seemed to be shrouded in fog and she was having a tough time recollecting patches of memories to make some sense of what her students were up to. She started walking towards supposed Bill Weasley.

"Thank the ghosts Ginny you're alright" Bill said.

"Dont worry about me , where does it hurt ? Is the Healer looking after you ?" Ginny asked.

"I am stable now Ginny but its the least of my concern. My team... arhhgggg the medical portkey took me off automatically, I could've stayed ...." Bill was finishing off and Minerva finally realised that this was indeed her former pupil and ex Head Boy Bill Weasley. She could barely recognize anyone. She was intently listening to Bill and Ginny's conversation when there were distinct pops of Apparations. She should have been relieved to be free but all her relief washed away the moment she saw the demonesque Harry Potter followed by Tonks, Lupin and someone called Russ. Seeing the state of Harry, Pushkin suddenly got up rushing towards him but Harry raised his hand to stop him in his tracks. She saw Harry and his team marching directly towards her. She wondered what could possibly be more left to do. Harry just nodded to her and stood next to Ginny. Bill looked up at the state of Harry wide eyed but soon regained his composure even though he was still reeling from a curse which had drained him of his magic temporarily. Minerva knew the very few people had the knowledge and stature to fire these spells.

"He's there Harry. You've to move fast." Bill said to Harry. Is it true , could it be really be him ? If he was there then why would they go even in the vicinity of that area let alone go on some kind of mission. This seemed to Minerva the most bungling strategy if there was ever one. Harry nodded to Bill and gathered his team around him.

"Tonks, we will proceed as planned. Tonks and Ginny with me right now. Russ and Lupin you'll portkey to Lav's transponder." Harry ordered. This was really happening. They were willingly going to fight him. She saw Remus and Russ holding a piece of metal rod between them. Harry, Tonks and Ginny were each holding a coppery looking coin and their wands to it. She imagined why would they each need a different portkey. This is not happening. They will all get killed.

"Harry!" She spoke loudly or at least tried .

"We'll talk Professor. Please take care of yourself till then" Harry smiled and said and then there was a chorus of "Portus" and all of them vanished as quickly as they came.

"Please professor have some of these potions. You've to be put on a regimen since you've been in presence of Dark magic for so long. " Pushkin said to her.

"Bill you need to try to keep still as much as possible. Save every ounce of energy possible and let the potions do their job." The second medic told to Bill.

"Is that boy , what's his name...Rankin. Is he stable now ?" Minerva asked Pushkin.

"I couldn't save him" Pushkin replied and conjured a seat for Minerva to collapse gently into.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russ and Remus dropped with their portkey behind Lavender. They could see Lavender sitting cross legged and eyes closed with a wand directed towards the sky and repeating some encantation. They came closer to her and stood still to let her finish. Lavender , Russ and Remus were together on a small grassy hill but could see the sparks of battle from there.

"You guys sure took your time. It's bad down there. Let's go" Lavender said and got up. Lavender turned around facing Remus and Lupin.

"So whats the plan ?" Lavender asked. She was in her battle wear with her wand hand itching to go.

"You're joining us. No need to take down the anti apparition wards. Harry has a plan." Russ said to Lavender. Lavender turned on her earpiece and connected to the team and looped in Russ and Remus into the team channel.

"Geroge, we have backup. Operation Halo is a go." Lavender said smiling.

"Let's go then. Accio Brooms!" Lavender pointed her wand to the sky. There it was , three Nimbus Windbreakers were coming down fast towards them. Wind breakers were professional grade racing brooms provided by Harry to each Order members. The Windbreakers gently broke their dive and landed in front of each of the riders.

Neville was as courageous a person as any Gryffindor would pride himself to be. He never ate much whenever there was an Order raid planned. Physical activity and food never seems to go well together for him. But tonight he was regretting this very much. To him it seemed he had really messed up on his last meal strategy as things were seemingly going. Bill was gravely injured. The three mercenaries were dead and Lavender was trying to rip open the anti apparition wards. Him , George and Luna were in back to back formation. They were surrounded by Death eaters and their misery was a spectacle to Voldemort who was standing on some sacrificial pulpit waiting to strike. They had underestimated the task too much or did they. What they were facing was already a probable , heck a very probable scenario.

"Neville, I bought a really nice gift for you and Ginny. I'll be happy if you accept it in case we all die tonight." Luna said calmly

"Are you always this prepared for every eventuality Luna ?" asked George while swatting away a curse directed on his flank.

"You're funny George. I thought it might be our last time together so better keep the present" Luna chimed calmly with blood trickling down her nose while she was firing silvery lightning arrows to push on the offensive.

"Will you both shut up!, I think lavender is trying to say something" Neville said as he was holding a blast shield to flank Luna and George from behind.

"I knew the Order were riff ruffs of our society but I had no idea of the depths of their stupidity" said Lucius. He had the situation in control. He and his band of death eaters had surrounded three inner members of the order and were close as ever to capture them. But in all his confidence he was afraid. He was afraid because this was the second major initiation ceremony that got attacked. Death eaters were not without casualty tonight. He had pretty much killed the eldest Weasley . In the forefront of his mind he wanted the Order ruffians executed but in the back of his mind he knew the Lord Voldemort is not going to spare them. There was a leak in the inner circle. Still he could see some gains to be made tonight . The annoyance of Longbottom would definitely be taken care of tonight and he'd capture the other two. The death eaters had formed a sparse circle around the trapped Order members and Voldemort was watching the show from higher pulpit nearby.

"George, Luna we have backup. Lav wants a connected shield."Neville announced to the two of them. The rest of the team acknowledged the orders and formed a connected shield. Now they were inside a pretty strong defense shield but there was no chance that they could form an offensive now. Neville was in agreement with this decision. He knew with multiple near misses Luna or Geroge were a spell away from gruesome death. The moment Connected shield was up. they started taking barrage of curses from the death eaters on their shield but it definitely gave them time to breathe. Geroge took out multiple bottles of rejuvenation potion and offered them to Luna and Neville. Each of them were powering the shield with their wands in one hand and drank the potion from the other hand. This brand of Rejuvenation potion was practically as good as condensed liquid magic. This was specifically designed for mid battle powerups. It gives mental fortitude and physical rejuvenation in middle of battle to go long. But the crashes from this were borderline torturous. The moment they gulped down the liquid stamina they were again in battle aware state with a brighter shield.

"I know you're here Harry, where are you hiding ?" Voldemort said to no one but he knew. He was watching the dance his snakes were having with the ambitious Order. It seemed a lost cause. They had caged themselves behind enemy lines. There was no escape.

"Potter is here Lucius. I want him captured!" Voldemort announced in a sonorous bang.

"Keep on hitting the shield Fenrir! until it breaks" Lucius barked the moment her heard his Master's voice. On Lucius' command Fenrir's wolves growled at Lucius but then aimed at the shield and sprinted towards the order and banged against the shield. Neville and Luna thanked George for his presence of mind. Their shield wouldn't have been half strong as it was now had they not had the potion. It was tough enough to block spells using a three man connected shield but to keep possessed wolves at bay was another level of difficulty.

The moment Fenrir's wolves crashed against the shield the outer physical layer of the shield cracked. If the physical layer cracked they were susceptible to AKs. George had no idea how long they could sustain the defence and prayed to Fred that their backup would come soon. The wolves ran back for a run-up to sprint at the shield again. With an increasing barrage of curses which were effectively destroying the shield's physical defence. The bloodthirsty wolves had decided that Neville's side of shield was more susceptible now and sprinted. Neville was wide eyed and knew that they couldn't block another crash from the pack.

"Get ready to drop the shield and kill the wolves. Gerorge and Luna give him cover and Neville blow them apart." It was Lavender with sound of wind howling past. Neville was relived, George was smiling and Luna's blood moustace hinted she was smiling too.

Everyone had detected a suden surge in magic , someone had tripped the motion wards and would be at very high speeds if the surge was this high. It was none other than Tonk's team that was incoming. The moment everyone felt the tripping of motion wards the Death eaters turned around to face a new challenge. The moment they saw the snakes turning around all three of them dropped the connected shield. Luna and George erected blast shields to cover Neville from any interested parties.

"Incendio!" Neville blast roasted the wolves on the ground to howling and excruciating screams to Fenrir's horror. Fenrir was agitated and angry enough at the sight of his pet wolves turned to kebab in split second. He broke the formation and ran towards Neville while firing curses.

"You Brickhead!" Lucius shouted after Fenrir but did not brake the rank. Neville knew it was a golden chance to take out the maniac. He had his curse loaded an pointed at the running warewolf and was waiting for the right proximity. Neville was ready to take him out when a body bind curse hit the warewolf out of nowhere and Fenrir tripped and rolled to the ground.

"Incarcerous!" shouted a terrible and familiar voice and a shield of wood was in front of Fenrir , effectively defending him. George knew that his happiness was short-lived as Voldemort had decided to play now. At least now the positions were in their favour. Now the death eaters were in the middle of two flanks of Order teams. Also one of ther teams now had air superiority as they were firing spells from their brooms and were pretty agile.

"Russ and Lav, we've to fly low to keep them busy." Remus communicated. Remus was constantly firing spells at Dolohov, who was firing spells like a maniac in all directions. Lav and Russ were throwing incendiary spells to create a wall of fire between George's team and the snakes.

"Where is Harry! We need to get out . We can't control the situation for long." George said to Lav.

"Copy. Harry is here. We stay put till the ponytail hangs." Russ broadcasted on the channels. There was a flight capable rank of Order constantly engaging a line of death eaters. Behind the death eaters was a wall of fire and the flank of Neville, George and Luna who were squeezing them hard. The order knew the play by heart but they did not expect this heavy retaliation and certainly did not expected that Voldemort would be present at the fight. What unnerved everyone was that Voldemort was not playing. He was watching his now struggling death eaters but did not raise his wand to help them yet. George was engaging Dolohov while Luna was energizing the wall of fire and closing it on the line of death eaters when suddenly the fire started extinguishing from one end and reached to the other end in a blink of an eye. Voldemort was done watching from the side lines. He joined his minions in the middle between the flanks and tilted the balance of power in his favour in a millisecond. It was now Remus ,Lavender and Russ against Voldemort while the trio was again getting on backfoot against rest of the remaining death eaters.

"I know you're here Harry! Come on out now or you're still in the habit of sacrificing your betters" Voldemort smiled as he effortlessly battled another trio all at the same time.

"George, fire the Tracer on Lucius . Backup is on its way." Harry broadcasted which now bought a measure of relief and a long awaited dose of confidence. Tracer spells were a new brand of spells that Hermione had devised. On getting hit with this brand of Tracer spell, a complementing Rune marked object will keep floating above your head. It was a highly modified version of Point Me spell. Not only George but anyone who could spare a thought simultaneously threw a tracer spell in Lucius' direction, such was the hate towards him.

Many miles above the ground were three overcoats flapping and hanging in the wind. Harry , Tonks and Ginny had directly portkeyed upon their Nimbus Windbreakers. They were so high up in the sky that they were well beyond the reaches of anti apparation wards. The moment Harry relayed the orders to George on the open channel, he ordered Tonks and Ginny to provide back up and coordinate evacuation. He knew it was very time sensitive. And as much as he wanted to meet old Snakeface he had to keep the objective in mind and protect the lives of his mates. Tonks and Ginny did a perpindicular dive to the ground. The moment harry ordered Tonks and Ginny to leave he reached inside his overcoat and took out a snitch size ball and kept it on the palm of his hand and waited.

Jugson and Macnair were bloodthirsty for the people Order had killed tonight and disgraced them in front of their Lord. They were determined to kill George, Neville and Luna . Along with the Death eaters some rogue Aurors had appeared out of nowhere and started hurling curses at them. George didn't knew how long they could sustain this before raising up another connected shield when he saw two free falling object in the sky and with renewed vigour fired crater spells in multiple succession to inflict maximum physical damage to men and landscape alike. Neville and Luna were duelling Jugson , Mulciber and two more rogue Aurors when suddenly both aurors were hit in the back of their heads with the metal coated frontend of Nimbus Windbreakes at breakneck speeds and their bodies hit the ground and rebounded from the ground at least twice.

"You really like to make an entrance don't you little sister" George smiled with a load off his back.

"Guilty! Neville sweet heart did you miss me ?" Ginny asked.

"You've no Idea" Neville chimed back in all honesty probably with a tear or two. The moment Lucius was hit with tracer spells the snitch sized metallic ball levitated on Harry's palm and started moving in the direction his broom was already pointing and then it stopped mid air on the same plane as Harry.

"Get ready Team, the wards will be down any minute. Get ready for you disapparation routine." Tonks ordered everyone on the field. Lucius noted the change in tactics of his enemy. Suddenly everyone was on defensive and had started to take a different tone in this fight. Voldemort was still fiddleing with the idea of playing with the starters till the main course arrived.

"You'll die at my hands tonight Longbottom. you're even more worthless than the blood traitor Weasley was!" Lucius said and renewed assault on Neville after seeing two Aurors dying horrible deaths. Ginny was firing spells from the high ground and Tonks was already at the edge of wards and had taken down the Order's Anti apparation wards and started corrupting the Death eaters wards. Lavender , Remus and Russ were the first to note that it was going to happen soon.

"Avada Kedavra!" Lucius had the full intent to kill Neville but Neville himself was no slouch. He had a transfiguration shield ready in no time ready to take the blow. It was when Lucius was ready to send the second barrage of AKs that suddenly everyone noticed a silver Halo dropping from the dark sky and onto Lucius. But it was too late now. High in the sky Harry was flying circles around the floating ball with his wand pointing down. Lucius was now captured inside the simplex shield. Voldemort couldn't disengage to save Lucius. It was at that time everything fell into place in Lucius' mind. This was not a gung ho order raid. This was an assassination mission. The moment everyone saw Lucius captured in the cage. They all started firing the AKs in Lucius' direction and started vanishing in order. Lucius was looking at multiple curses hurling towards him from all directions and then he saw above one last time. He saw a green blip coming towards him followed by a giant burning ball of fire but before he could achieve the torturous fate Harry planned for him Lucius was no more. The tracer ball hovering in the sky above Lucius position burnt itself to ashes the moment Lucius' soul detached from his body.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=35&v=2LJg9UvoKvk&feature=youtu.be )

Harry stopped going in circles and stabilised his broom and looked as the burning landscape below.

"Tonks, I've to make a stop. Hold it together until I arrive!" Harry communicated to Tonks. The work was not yet done and he vanished with the wind. After multiple disapparations to leave a false trail Harry apparated to Grimmauld place , opened the door and ran inside. The pain in his head was searing. It was worse than anything. Voldemort was really angry and was hammering his occulmancy shields. Harry could feel Voldemort's red in his head. It was hell. He ran to his personal apothecary attached to his study flailing his arms.

"Master Harry! What do you need? How can I help." Kreacher was terrified, he was probably reminded of Regulus' state after drinking the potion. Harry was dropping potions on the floor while searching for a cure. He was breathing heavily and his legs were trembling. All this time it was like a gong was being hit in his head.

"Tell Lycoris to keep her mouth shut , now go Kreacher" Harry said without looking back at the elf. He saw an unmarked bottle of transparent liquid with a pinkish hue and took it off the shelf and uncorked it. He gulped the whole liquid in one go and then another until he felt a numbness slowly creeping in his brain and the pain and hammering slowly going away. How could he be such an idiot. He forgot to take Pushkin's potions before the battle. It was a mega mistake. He could've lost control in the battle and put the whole order in danger. Harry was lying with his back against the corner and his legs splayed out and empty bottles rolling next to him. He was waiting to gain some composure before he had to put on his brave face. He let the potion work for good two minutes and let the numbness melt away the pain in his head. Once he was confident enough he got up in the darkness and walked out of the study and into the common area. He walked out calmly out of the front door and apparated to the warehouse without a sound .


End file.
